Connoisseur Magazine Review: Porto

Port wine is the most famous representative of fortified wine, and it comes from valley of the Duero river in the north of Portugal. Here, on rocky terraces that are “incandesced by the hot sun”,it is possible to grow grapes with concentrated flavour, that contain high sugar content from local red varieties. The five most valuable varieties from the many cultivated are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cao and Tinta Barocca. The region where port wine is grown streches along both costs of the Duero river, starting from the Spanish border towards the west. Those vineyards are among the most impressive ones in the world, being cultivated by hard work and the planting of vines in rock terraces. Terraces to this wild, but beautiful are give almost elegant look. Depending on the composition of the soil, Duero vineyards are classified in six categories, and the most valued are those grown in soils with natural slate, especially steep sunny hillsides.

Port producing starts with a traditional wine fermentation, which process occurs until the alchocol content has reached approximetely seven per cent. Then the natural fermentation is stopped, grape spirit is added although almost a half of the non-fermented grape sugar still remains in the wine. This natural grape sweetness will continue to define the taste of port wine being produced, but the preferred 20 per cent alchocol content will be provided by the added alchocol portion.

What makes port wine a “special and nobel drink” is its maturation, which traditionally takes place in special location– in a small town Vilanova di Gaja. Here the delicate wine is analyzed and tested, and its further destiny is determined depending on its quality, to be more precise, how long and in what way it should be matured in wooden barrels of different size, so that as a result it corresponds to one of the port wine basic categories: Vintage, Ruby, Tawny or White.