Port Wine - all port starts life as a red or white wine grown in the Duoro valley in Portgual. The basic wine is then fortified with grape spirit taking it from a lowly 7% alcohol to a robust 20%, which is typical for port and dessert wine.
Making port wine can involve foot treading of grapes in granite lagars although these days that is mainly limited to the production of vintage ports. The port wine maker will tell you that the bare human foot cannot crush a grape seed and thereby introduce any bitter notes to the port.
Port wines come in several different varieties, the main differences being driven by the quality of the original harvest and the method chosen to age the wine. All port wine will spend at least two to three years aging in wooden vats - those which are deemed ready for drinking become the ruby and white port that is the bulk of port sold.
The best wines will be deemed worthy of vintage port only 2 or 3 times every decade - these will be aged in the bottle for 10 to 50 years. Tawny ports are aged in wood for their entire life - the interaction with oxygen that the wood allows ages the port into a smooth, tawny coloured wine.
For more information click on each port wine type below
