In support of Port!

It’s now becoming a trendy aperitif and an affordable base to many new cocktails – especially on the London cocktail scene.  So we wouldn’t be surprised if you find yourself drinking a sweet white port and tonic in 2016. But if you’re unsure where or how to start, have a read of our bluffers guide to port!

There are hundreds of grape varities which can be used in the production of port however there are really only five that are widely cultivated for this purpose – Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional.

Port has a higher alcohol content than other wines and has a deep full bodied flavour that makes it hearty and warming – which is perhaps why it’s become such a popular Christmas drink.

Younger ports are relatively cheaper than spirits so they add alchol and flavour to a cocktail without blowing the budget.

Port from Portugal falls into several varieties but two broad categories:

Sealed glass bottles  – wines matured in this way have no exposure to air and therefore undergo “reductive” ageing through which the wine loses it’s colour very slowly and is less tannic which tastes smoother on the palate.

Permeable wooden barrels – wine matured in this way are exposed to a small amount of oxygen and undergo “oxidative” ageing. This means they lose colour faster as well as loosing volume to evaporation (known as the angel’s share) so the wine left behind is more viscous.

The Institute of Douro and Port Wine The (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto) IVDP categorises port into two further categories; either ‘normal ports’ which includes tawnies, standard rubies, as well as white ports and ‘special categories’ – ‘Categorias Especiais’ which includes everything else.

Varieties:

A Tawny Port

A Tawny port is made from a red grape and aged in permeable  wooden barrels – usually for about 2 years. They tend to be sweet or medium dry and tend to be drunk as a dessert accompaniment. It’s the slow oxidative aging which creates a mellow, golden brown colour and adds a nutty flavour to the wine. The port house will then add blends to match its own house style.

Tawny’s can be older than 2 years and this will be stated on the label; The official categories are 10, 20, 30 and over 40 years in wooden barrels.  The categories indicate a target age profile for the ports, not their actual ages, although many people mistakenly believe that the categories indicate the minimum average ages of the blends.

A number of white Tawnys are also produced.

A Vintage Colheita Tawny Port.

A Colheita Port is a single vintage wine aged in the same way as a tawny but Instead of an indication of age (10, 20,…) the actual vintage year is mentioned.  (Don’t confuse these with vintage ports however because the maturation process is different; a colheita may have spent more than two decades in a wooden barrel whereas a vintage port will be transferred to mature in a bottle).

A number of white Colheitas have also been produced.

Garrafeira

Garrafeira port is a more unusual variety of port, and more rare given that it is made from the grapes of a single harvest that combines the oxidative maturation of years in wood with further reductive maturation in large glass bottles known as ‘demijohns.’   (In fact, the IVDP require that the wines spend at least three to six years in wood, then at least eight years in glass before bottling.)

The demijohns are dark green in colour and can hold more than 10 litres each!

(Confusingly, the word Garrafeira may be used on some very old tawny port labels,  if the contents of the bottle are of exceptional age.)

Ruby Port

Ruby Port is probabally the most common and extensively produced variety of port – and also the cheapest.  It is stored in concrete or stainless steel tanks after fermentation to protect it from oxidation and preserve the rich ruby colour.  It’s cold filtered then bottled and different brands will add their own blends. These types of ports don’t tend to improve with age.

Reserve or Vintage Character Port

Reserve port is a premium ruby port which has been approved each year by the IVDP’s tasting panel ‘the Câmara de Provadores’.

It is prohibited to use the term ‘vintage character’  unless it has been officially approved by the IVDP.

Rose Port

Rosé port is a fairly recent variation of Port and has only been available to buy since 2008. Technically it is a Ruby Port which has had limited exposure to the grape skins during the fermentation process – thus resulting in the rosé colour –  in a similar way to rosé wine.

White Port

Made from white grapes, white port comes in a variety of styles and ranging from dry to sweet. Matured in wood for long periods, the colour darkens  (and with very old varities it becomes hard to distinguish whether the original wine was red or white).

White port make an excellent base for cocktails but the older white ports are considered best drunk chilled, on their own.  The locals of Porto often drink sweet white port with tonic as an aperitif.

Late Bottle Vintage Port

Late bottled vintage port (also known as LBV) has an accidental origin – It was originally wine that had been destined for bottling as a vintage port, but left in the barrel far longer than planned due to a lack of demand.  LBV is usually bottled between four to six years and comes in two styles; one is filtered before bottling and ready to drink and usually bottled in a resealable bottle, whereas the other isn’t and usually needs decanting but many experts feel this maintains more of the character of the wine and believed to further improve by extra years in the bottle.

Crusted Port

Crusted port is usually a blend of port wine from several vintages (although you can also find single vintage varieties). Using several vintages allows the port blender the chance to make the best use of the different characteristics found in different vintages.

Crusted port is bottled unfiltered  and sealed with a driven cork and tend to improve with age (although sold with the intention to be drunk younger compared with vintage ports) Like vintage port it therefore needs to be decanted before drinking. The date on a crusted port bottle refers to the date it was bottled and not the year the grapes were grown.

Crusted port will have been aged for at least three years although a lot of producers will keep it longer so that they are ready to be drunk straight away.

Vintage Port

Only about 2% of all port production is vintage port  This is because it is only produced by grapes of a declared vintage year and because not every year is declared a vintage year in the Douro port producing region this makes the quantities much more scarce.

The decision on whether to declare a vintage is made in the spring of the second year following the harvest. The decision to declare a vintage is made by each individual port house and is never taken lightly!

In recent years, some shippers have adopted the “chateau” principle for declarations, declaring all but the worst years. More conventional shippers will declare a vintage approximately three times a decade.

Vintage ports are likely to be aged in barrels for a maximum of two and a half years before bottling, and generally require another ten to forty years of ageing in the bottle before reaching what is considered a proper drinking age. Since they are unlikely to be aged in barrels for very long (compared with other ports) they retain their dark ruby colour and fresh fruit flavours. Particularly fine vintage ports can continue to gain complexity and drink well for many decades after they were bottles.  Which means, for example, that some 19^th century bottles can still be great for consumption today!

Single Quinta Vintage Port

These ports originate from a single estate or ‘quinta’.   Producers use them in years when the regular vintage port of the house is not declared and therefore wine from their best quinta is still bottled under a vintage designation instead. It is usually sold more cheaply and you’ll see the label  includes the name of both a major port wine house and the name of a quinta.

More recently,  there has been an increase in the production (and promotion) of single quinta vintage port as a high end wine. For example small producers in the Douro valley are almost always single quinta wines.  Even the larger port houses  have introduced single quintas to run as separate estates.

Port Cocktails

If you’ve got a bottle of port collecting dust in your drinks cabinet, why not try one of these port cocktails? 

BIN (27) THERE, DONE THAT! 

Have you ever tried port with ice? This one is very simple to put together – pick a ruby port such as Bin 27 – and see how the deep flavours taste cold.

You’ll need:

Ruby port  (such as Fonseca Bin 27)

Ice cubes

A highball or rocks glass

Simply fill the glass with ice and cover it with with ruby port, finish with a sprig of mint or slice of orange – easy!

TAWNY CRUSHED

This one is almost identical to Bin 27,  except its with crushed ice and a young fresh tawny port such as Croft’s.

You’ll need:

Tawny Port to taste (such as Croft Fine)

Crushed ice

Fill the highball with crushed ice and finish with a slice of lemon – very refreshing!

SIROCO AND TONIC

Try a white port (such as Fonseca Siroco white port) with tonic water – you’ll find that the tart stone fruit aromas if the siroco work wonderfully with the lighter tonic.

You’ll need:

1 part white port (such as Fonseca Siroco)

1 part tonic water

Ice cubes

Highball glass

Fill a highball glass with ice, add the white port and tonic, stir well and garnish with lemon, mint or even a basil leaf can work well this this combi.

RUBY SPARKLER

We love the name of this one! Simikar in some ways to a Kir Royal – you’ve guessed it: port and sparkling wine!

We suggest something with red berry flavours (such as the  Bin 27 Ruby Port you used earlier) which are lifted wonderfully by the brut sparkling wine.

You’ll need:

1 part ruby port (such as Fonseca Bin 27)

2 parts (chilled) brut sparkling wine

Champagne flute

Chill your Champagne flutes before adding the ruby port, and top them up with sparkling wine.  Strawberries, blueberries or blackberries look and taste rather nice as a garnish with this mix.

Tawny Manhattan

The title gives this one away – replace the sweet vermouth used in a standard manhattan with tawny port (many people will have a bottle of tawny port, if any, in their drinks stash).

You’ll need:

2 oz rye

1 oz Tawny Port (such as Sandeman)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Cocktail glass

Pour in all all the ingredients with ice and stir.

Combine all ingredients and stir over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Cherries make the perfect garnish for this.

Clubland Cocktail

A white or tawny port can be used in this one and adds a nutty, vanilla and citrus note to the punchy vodka.

You’ll need:

1.5 oz tawny port (such as Dow’s 10 year Tawny)

1.5 oz vodka

1 dash Angostura bitters

Cocktail glass

Stir all ingredients together, add ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice or twist of lemon zest.

PUNCHY PINK

Pink port can be perfect for summer cocktails and this one is a great alternative to pimms. This one is a fantastic blend of pink port, lemonade, pomegranate juice, prosecco (or sparkling wine) with fresh strawberries. The result is a tart and vibrant combination!

You’ll need:

1 part pink port (such as Croft Pink)

1 part lemonade

1/2 part pomegranate juice

1/2 part Prosecco

Strawberries (or rasberries)

Mint

Cocktail or punch glasses

Chill down all your ingredients and pour them into a large jug and stir. Serve into cocktail or punch glasses.