Creative Writing | Guide to Wine | Genealogy

Port Wine

One of the great enduring myths about Port is that it is guaranteed to cause a hangover. The reason for this is quite simple.

Imagine the typical intake of alcohol on an indulgent evening: say, a glass or two of Champagne, a glass of white with a starter, a couple of glasses of red with the main course. Almost without thinking about it you have drunk the equivalent of a bottle of wine - and quite a mixture at that. Embark now on a glass of Port and the mixture becomes even more toxic, almost guaranteeing a throbbing head in the morning. The next day your memory is of the last drink spotted at the scene of the crime - and so it is Port that gets the blame.

To understand any drink you need to start by studying it in isolation. Like Champagne, Port is one of those drinks that tends to be shrouded in the myths that surround it. But just as Champagne is simply a wine enlivened with bubbles, Port is simply a wine that has been given an alcoholic kick by the addition of grape spirit. And, like Sauternes and some of Germany 's finest wines, it suffers from the problem associated with all sweet wines: prejudice. This is quite understandable - bad Port has little to recommend it - but the problem is not one of sweetness but of quality.

STYLES OF PORT

Vintage Port is made from the best grapes from a particularly good harvest and becomes increasingly mellow with age.
Tawny Port is aged in oak casks for ten, twenty or thirty years before bottling.
Colheita is tawny Port from a single vintage.
Late-bottled vintage Port is aged for four to six years in cask.

VINTAGE PORT AND THE ART OF AGEING GRACEFULLY

For devotees of vintage Port one of its greatest attractions is its capacity to develop with age. While the flavours of most whites start to subside after two or three years and those of reds last only a few more, the robust ingredients in Port give it a staying power that means it will continue to develop for decades. Considering both its quality and its age, vintage Port offers very good value for those who like longlived wines - and even if the contents of a glass aren't outstanding, there is the novelty of knowing that you are drinking a wine that has become part of vinous history.

TASTE TEST

Explore the different styles in a tasting and you might start to see Port not as a sickly sweet drink that you consume when you are already inebriated but simply as yet another style of wine. Line up the following wines:

inexpensive Port + late-bottled vintage Port that is at least ten years old + tawny Port (served slightly chilled) + a sweetish style of New World Cabernet + a dry red (e.g. Burgundy)

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

The main aim is to assess the balance between sweetness and any other flavours you might find. Look too at the relationship between colour and flavour.

THE WHITE STUFF

Though the people who make Port are enthusiastic drinkers of their own wine, the last thing that anyone would want to sip on a terrace at the end of a hot day in the Douro Valley is a tepid glass of vintage Port. The answer? White Port - a curious wine that is made from white grapes in almost exactly the same way as red Port is made. Mixed with ice and tonic it serves the same purpose as drinks such as Pimm's: a cool, refreshing drink with a wonderfully tangy, palate enlivening flavour.


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