Il Porto è the most famous fortified wine in the world and is produced in the north of Portugal, in the valley of the Douro river, in the hills surrounding the city of the same name of Porto (Oporto in Portuguese), a very rainy and humid area that guarantees the vineyards an average of 1000 mm of rain per year. Porto has a centuries-old history, in this area the vine had already been planted during the Roman era, but it was in the thirteenth century that the wines of Porto had their first real successes even outside Portugal and the first exports to France began and in the Netherlands. In the seventeenth century the fame of the port grew more and more and the port of Vila Nova de Gaia became the most important commercial point not only at a European level but also for its traffic to South America and the Antilles.
Currently, around 120 million bottles of Porto are sold annually worldwide, most of which (86%) outside Portugal. The biggest port drinkers are reconfirmed, as they did eight centuries ago, in France and Holland, followed by the United Kingdom and Belgium.
The fortification: the addition of alcohol to the base wine
What made (and still makes) Porto so appealing was (and is) his softness. Compared to other Portuguese wines, which are very rich in tannins and acidity, Porto has a more pleasant and delicate flavor due to the fact that it is corrected with grape brandy, that is fortified with alcohol, a process carried out for all liqueur wines as well as Madeira, Jerez and Marsala (the term fortified wine is practically a synonym for fortified wine). A fortified wine such as Porto must have an alcohol content between 15 ° and 22 ° vol (usually 19-20%) and a sugar concentration of not less than 50 g / l.
The fortification had at the time and still has two great advantages: it allows the wine to keep longer thanks to the higher residual sugar and alcohol content, which at the time, given the very long boat trips that the wine had to make, it was indispensable, and guarantees a softer and sweeter flavor, something very appreciated in wines at least until a few decades ago. No wonder the first Barolo was also sweet! The standard taste accepted at the time turned towards sweet, we think of the first wines that appeared, such as the Greek retsina, with the addition of honey and rosemary. Today, on the other hand, a drier taste and a lower alcohol content are preferred, and it is no coincidence that "nature" sparkling wines are increasingly in demand, with a sugar residue equal to zero and an alcohol content of 12,5%.
The grapes that make up Porto
Port is made up of a good 60% of an autochthonous grape called Bastard, a very resistant black grape variety that guarantees high yields per hectare but is certainly not a noble grape. Il Bastardo, however, aims to guarantee a good structure and a good alcohol content to the Port, which is then softened thanks to the presence of other more elegant grapes such as: Touriga Nacional, the most elegant and noble grape of the Duoro area, comparable to Cabernet Sauvignon, the French Touriga, more herbaceous and more similar to Cabernet Franc, Tinta Barocca, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Francisa and Tinta Cao.
Port winemaking
The harvested grapes are processed with modern crusher-destemmers that eliminate the stalks and at the same time press the berries to obtain the must. The must is fermented in steel tanks (or traditional ones, in stone) at a controlled temperature of 30 ° C. Once the desired sugar content is reached, fermentation is stopped with the addition of alcohol (in the form of brandy or brandy).
At this point the port is decanted into the traditional ones pipe (wooden barrels with a capacity of 550-600 liters) or in larger barrels, and left to rest for a couple of months, after which alcohol is added again and after which the maturation period continues, which varies according to the cellar (called farm in Portuguese) and the type of Porto.
Until 1986 the port could only be bottled in Vila Nova de Gaia (adjacent to Porto, on the other side of the Douro River, where all the main companies that produce it are located), so the barrels were transported with characteristic boats from the region of Douro (until the 50s, later with tank trucks), where the vineyards and cellars are located, up to the bottling cellars, and from here they left for the whole world. Today it is possible to bottle directly where the wine is produced, and this has allowed the birth of many smaller wineries, independent from the large groups that are the masters in this region. Porto is a wine "invented" by the English, who have always had a privileged trade relationship with Portugal. It is no coincidence that the major wineries in Porto have an English name because the property has always been English. Today the property is mostly owned by large groups such as Sogevinus.
Port classification and typologies
The Port is divided into about five main types. However, in order not to get confused between the various styles, we can say that there are two types of Porto: the "Ruby" line and the "Tawny" line. The former do not undergo oxidative processes during their stay in wood or steel, the latter are aged in wood and undergo oxidative processes. Within these two styles there are different types of port, which differ in quality (value and cost).
White Port, White port, is the most delicate and least alcoholic, it can age in steel or wood, like the red port. More famous is the dry one, with a sugar residue of less than 40g / l which must be consumed cold as an aperitif, but there is also a sweet version,> 50g / l, which is used to make desserts or to be combined with dry pastries. The sweetest one is called "Lagrima". There are also port whites aged in cask: 10 and 20 years (some producers even make 30 years), in the same way as Tawny. The cost ranges from 6-10 euros for a young white port, up to 50 and more for a 20-year-old.
Port Ruby, matures less than a year in steel or in very large barrels, which do not mark the wine with their aroma and above all do not cause oxidative processes. It has a bright ruby color, hence the name, a fruity and slightly more rude flavor than the other more aged ones, it is also the cheapest Porto. The Fine Old Ruby, on the other hand, it is already a more elegant and more harmonious Porto, created as a blend of several vintages that have been at least 4 years in cask. It does not undergo oxidative processes, therefore it remains very dark in color and with fruity aromas typical of partially fermented must. The cost of the Ruby is quite low: from 6 to 10 euros, on average.
Porto Tawny, is the most common type of aged Port, its aging in cask can last from 2 to 40 years, has a garnet color, hence the name, which turns towards orange as the years of aging increase, and to taste is smooth and complex. The Tawny "reserve" have an aging of between 4 and 10 years (usually 7-8). The indications allowed on the bottle are 10, 15, 20, 30 years old or over 40 years old. The years of aging are not effective, because the Tawny are all blends of barrels from different vintages: to calculate the years of aging we consider the average of the products that make up the blend. The most interesting Tawny are those aged 10 and over, which acquire softness and complexity. Once opened, they can be stored at a constant temperature (without fluctuations) for a few weeks (some say up to 6 months). Before being marketed, Tawny aged 10 and over is sent to the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, which tastes it, verifies its characteristics and, if it is compliant, gives authorization for bottling. The cost of a young Tawny is the same as that of a Ruby, for a 10 year old it goes from 15 to 25 euros, for a 20 it goes from 30 to 50 euros, for a 30 from 50 to 80 euros, for a 40 it is around 100 euros.
Vintage Port, is a port of the "Ruby" line, and is the one considered, especially by the British, the most valuable. It is the vintage, the one that is made with the grapes harvested in the same vintage, which is bottled after 2 years of aging in cask and which continues aging in the bottle up to 30 years because it is not filtered: the yeasts left in the bottle have the ability to preserve and evolve up to 100 years and more. Two years after the harvest, the Ruby port is sent to the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, where it is tasted and based on the quality of the vintage, permission is given to produce the "Vintage". There are vintage bottles from the early 800th century, still perfectly drinkable (but with a rather high cost). It has a deep red color and a very fruity flavor, it is the most seductive Porto. The best vintages recognized are 1997, 1995, 1994, 1991, 1985. The vintage port in its youth is very fruity but not particularly interesting, it begins its evolution after 10 years but it is always good to wait 20, 30 or 40 years to drink something really mature. After opening, pouring and decanting the yeasts, it should be drunk quickly (a couple of days), because it oxidizes very quickly. The cost of the vintage Port is very variable and depends on the manufacturer. If you are young you can also buy it for 20-30 euros, even if the most prestigious bottles can well exceed 50 euros. The oldest vintage Ports have a variable cost, which can exceed several hundred euros or thousands of euros, for older and more prestigious Ports.
Porto LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) is a vintage port (produced with the grapes of a single vintage) which can be considered the link between the Tawny and Ruby lines, because it is aged in small barrels for 4 to 6 years and then undergoes the process oxidative (but short), then it is bottled and ready to drink. It does not undergo further evolution in the bottle because it is filtered: however some producers market the unfiltered LGW, to allow the consumer to age it in the cellar like a vintage.
Colehita: it is a port made in a single vintage (a vintage), which remains in small barrels until bottling and subsequent marketing. It is therefore a port of the "Tawny" line. Unlike the LGW, it stays in wood much longer, and therefore takes on characteristics closer to a Tawny, especially if it is a very old Colehita. It differs from Tawny for its peculiar characteristics of the vintage in which it was produced, while Tawny is always a softer product, "built" on the style of the company. There is also the Colehita white, even if it is quite rare.
