Port is readily available in most German supermarkets but if you are looking for something that little bit special, visit your local wine merchant and ask their advice. The price of a bottle of port can range from five Euros for standard quality to many hundreds of Euros for top Quality Vintage Port.
Port originates in the Douro Valley, Portugal, where the terraced vineyards extend east from the city of Oporto to the border with Spain. It first became popular in England during the reign of William 111, and at a time we were at war with France, and were hostile to everything French, which unfortunately including their wines. In 1703 England, in search for alternative suppliers, signed the Metheun Treaty with Portugal. This allowed us to receive Portuguese products at one third less duty than the produce of France. We quickly took a liking to the wine from Oporto, and when the Portuguese started adding brandy to fortify the wine, allowing it keep longer and not be so liable to the climate changes during the long voyage, we were more than delighted and the new in-drink of the early seventeen hundreds became known as Port. The addition of brandy, which must be distilled from Portuguese wine, has the effect of checking the fermentation. The wine takes longer to mature but when it has done so and the vintage is a good one, it is the wine of the Gods. Its popularity has diminished and it's had its renaissances over the years but there are those of us for whom it will never go out of fashion.
I don't know if it is still being drunk in the Officers Mess, where the tradition was to pass the bottle clockwise round the table until empty but, in any case, when the bottle has been opened, it should certainly be enjoyed and emptied in a short space of time. Never order a glass of Port in a bar, unless it is dispensed there on a regular basis. If the year is a good one then the best vintage port is the wine of that particular year, blended from different vineyards, stored in oak vats for two or three years and then, two or three years later, bottled. It is in the bottle that it continues to mature, leaving a sediment or crust and it is during this slow rate of molecular adjustment that Vintage Port achieves the delectable smoothness, and the bouquet which takes its quality miles beyond any other of the world's fortified wines.
This list of the different sorts of Port, may be of help to those readers who are interested in learning more about this noble wine:
Vintage - Blended from the wine of the best vineyards in the same year and stored whilst maturing for not less than 15 years. It must be bottled and racked within two years of harvesting. It is the cream of all Ports.
Single Quinta Port - As the name implies this Port is from a single vineyard and can often be a Vintage Port.
LBV - This is a "Late Bottled Vintage" single year Port that has been matured in wood for not less than four years before being bottled. The label indicates the year of bottling and its vintage.
Vintage Character Port - This title is misleading in that the Port is similar to that of a fine Ruby Port and not that of a Vintage.
Crusted Port - This Port is a successful blending of wines from different years. Kept in casks for four years and then three years in the bottle prior to being sold. The crust deposit in the bottle is the cause of its name but should not be confused with Vintage.
Fine Old Tawny - As the name suggests this is pale-amber in colour and less full-bodied. It is a blended wine from different years and its label will indicate its age as an average year of its content. It is bottled and racked for 10, 20 years or more, assuming a smooth silky texture and a mellow nutty flavour.
Vintage-dated Tawny - These attractively priced Ports are as a Fine Old Tawny but also considered a Vintage. They can spend 20 or 50 years in a cask.
Tawny - A Port that is less sweet in flavour and composed of blending from different aged wines - even a clever mixture of red and white. These Tawny Ports do not improve with ageing.
Fine Old Ruby - Blended from different years and kept in the cask for about four years before being ready to drink. They have a fruity-spicy flavour and classified as inferior to Tawny.
Ruby - A fruity Port and as the name suggests, deep red in colour. They blended from wines of different years and take no more than one to three years to mature.
White - This is either dry or sweet in flavour. Normally chilled before serving and acts as an attractive aperitif in the small manner as a Spanish Sherry.
Port should be served around 65 degrees, in a narrow wine glass, and the glass should only be half filled. This keeps the alcoholic content from overwhelming the flavours. Standard quality port should be drunk within a year of purchase. Vintage Port can be kept up to twenty years, when it may peak. It often needs to be gently decanted to avoid the crust which may have formed on the side of the bottle, during storage. Traditionally it is served with a good cheese, a Stilton, Cheddar or Red Leicester but I also enjoy it alone and occasionally as an accompaniment to a rich pudding.
Below are the nine top brands of Port to look for:
Fonseca Guimaraens - Vinhos S.A. Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman - Vinhos, S.A. Dow's W. & J. Graham & C, S.A. Sandemann & Ca.S.A. Quinta do Noval Warre & C. SA. Niepoort (Vinhos) S.A. Cockburn Smithes & Ca. S.A.A. Ferreira, SA.
Merry, Merry Christmas
Bryan R. Thomas.
