By Gina Trippi
It’s cold. It’s stormy. It’s Port time! But, let’s be honest, Port has a bad name. Most consumers still think of Port as a sedative in a dusty, green glass jug on a bedside table in a silent movie. The history of Port spans centuries so we offer here just enough to get you started on the road to discovery.
Grapes have been grown in Portugal since antiquity. As you might expect, Romans arrived in Portugal in the second century B.C., and for the next 500 years, Romans grew vines and made wine on the banks of the Douro River where Port is produced today.
In 1756, the Douro Valley became the first wine region to be legally demarcated. Its vineyards were classified the following year, almost a century before those of Bordeaux! The Douro Valley is known as the birthplace of Port.
But what makes Port, well, Port? The essential difference is that Port is a fortified wine. Alcohol, in the form of distilled spirits—usually brandy—was added to the wine as a preservative while it was being transported on the small, slow, bouncing ships of the day. Port retains a slight sweetness. But why?
Simply put, according to John Kerr of Metro Wines, the process starts when the wine begins to ferment and the yeast turns the sugar into alcohol. Once the wine reaches the desired sweetness, it is a low-alcohol wine since not all the sugar has been converted to alcohol. To keep the Port slightly sweet, the vintner pours in brandy to kill the yeast and stop fermentation. But brandy is high in alcohol, so the resulting Port now has a high alcoholic content of 15-20 percent.
We like Taylor Fladgate Fine Tawny Port. A pale brick color with a broad amber rim, it presents aromas of ripe berry fruit with butterscotch and figs, laced with nutty, spicy aromas. The palate is smooth and round, full of rich strawberry jam flavors.
Fladgate makes a good companion for dessert, and combines particularly well with flavors of almonds, berry fruit or dark chocolate. It can also be enjoyed paired with rich, blue-veined cheeses.
Port does not require decanting. But the higher alcohol content calls for a smaller glass, usually tulip-shaped, and a pour of about three ounces. The bottle should be kept upright, protected from light and at a cool and constant temperature.
And Port has options in the glass and on the plate. The Coffee Cocktail, dating back to 1887 and made with Tawny Port, is popular again. The drink does not actually contain coffee; the concoction just looks like coffee in the glass. The Coffee Cocktail can be dessert or a partner to something sweet. And one of the most served savory dishes with Tawny Port is mushroom ragoût. Chefs deglaze the pan with Tawny Port, which imparts nutty notes that pair seamlessly with mushrooms, or add Fladgate Tawny Port to caramelized onions, infusing a jammy, strawberry flavor.
A world of Port is waiting for you this winter.
Gina Trippi is the co-owner of Metro Wines, 169 Charlotte Street, in Asheville. Committed to the community, Metro Wines offers big-shop selection with small-shop service. Gina can be reached at gina@metrowinesasheville.com or 828.575.9525.
