The wine-producing Douro region is the third-oldest protected wine region in the world after the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in Hungary, established in 1730, and Chianti, in 1716. While the oldest is a sweet wine that is sometimes referred to as "nectar," the second oldest relates to wine that dates back to Roman antiquity. This wine from the Douro region is the oldest fortified wine, Port.
The first myth to bust with Port is the name of the wine is not from Portugal, but a specific place in Portugal called Oporto. Specifically, 61,775 acres are legally defended as the place for the vines used for Port. This area, Alto Douro (Upper Douro) is a 50-mile sweep of the Douro River where the solid schist of the steep hills was blasted and excavated for grape growing. The monumental engineering of this valley, just for Port wine, was established in 1756.
The area of growing grapes for Port wine and for blending the wine is in Alto Douro. Although the method is strictly controlled to make the wine, there are several dozen grapes used in making Port. The grapes most common are: Bastardo; Touriga Francesca; Mourisco; Tinto C o; Tempranillo and Tinta Francisca. Each growing estate is known as the quinta, the owner of the quinta will sell his wines to the blender and shippers of the finished product.
In the process of making Port, the winemaker will add the aguardente, the high proof brandy to the wine. The aguardente is a distilled product from the same wine. This is added to the wine must while the fermentation is not complete. When the brandy is added, the fermentation of the cask stops. This allows for the wine to hold on to residual sugars. This process in the wine making of Port is also called the mutage.
At a specific level of fermentation, once judged by taste alone, the wine is drawn off into vats and the fermentation is arrested with the brandy. The mixture will have considerable sugars and still achieve a 20% level of alcoholic strength.
The actual making of Port is done at the quinta in Alto Douro. The wine storage there will last maybe a few months. The wine then goes down the valley to Vila Nova de Gaia, the wine center of Oporto. This is where the wine is lodged. These are warehouses for the wine to age. If the wine is judged to be a particular quality, it may age in the lodge for 30 to 50 years.
After six to nine months in the lodge, the next quality judgement takes place. These are true specialists in the taste of Port wine. This step is where a vintage will be declared if the quality is superior. They will request the Instituto do Vinho do Porto to designate that particular lot of wine as Vintage Port. Less than 5 percent of the total production in the Alto Douro achieves vintage status.
Vintage Port is the fullest-bodied and most long-lived wine. It may be in cask for two years, but it will continue to develop for decades. True Vintage Port will have heavy sediment in the bottle, sometimes a crust, and must be ceremoniously decanted. To pour this wine, stand upright for at least an hour. Then, very slowly transfer the bottle contents into a clear (preferably crystal) wine decanter. Be gentle, you don't want the sediment to come out of the bottle. Then pour gentle from the decanter, as there will still be some sediment in the transfer.
A port type that approximates the Vintage Port is the Colheita Port. Not a true Vintage but will have a vintage date signifying the harvest year. The key to Colheita Ports is that they will have spent at least 7 years in wood casks prior to bottling. They will age well, not as well as Vintage Ports, and they have much less sediment in the bottle (still a good idea to decant these).
The most common Port wines we see in the US are Ruby Ports and Tawny Ports. Tawny Ports are wines typically aged in wood longer and have developed a brown coloring. The fine subtleties in Tawny Ports can come with age too. You might find a label of "Fine Old Tawny" that may cost more than a Vintage Port. They are exceptional wines.
Ruby Ports are typically fuller and almost always sweeter than the Tawnys. That is the easy way to remember, the Port, Ruby is sweeter and Tawny is dry.
The prices for a bottle of single quinta vintage Port range from $60 to nearly $2,000 and that is the most valued and traded Port. Colheitas Ports are the Ports aged for at least 7 years and range around $25, and are the best values in my opinion. Colheita Ports are not vintage wines but because the cask aging rules make them higher quality without the age classification.