Port wines derives it name from the the city of Porto located in the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. Port wines are usually made from combination of up to five different grape varieties, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cao, Tina Barroca, Tinta Rozi, and Touriga Fanacesas. It tends have a much richer, sweeter and heavier flavor than other wines. It is usually served as an before or after dinner drink because if its rich fruity flavor but is also goes well with sweet desserts, cheese, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate and other sweet foods.

Port wines are forfeited which means that additional grapes spirits are added to the blend during processing to increase the alcohol content making it have a much higher alcohol content that other wines. There are several different classifications of port wine and it is based on the aging process. The first type of aging process is called reductive aging. This is when wines are aged in large sealed wooden tanks or bottles with very little exposure to oxygen. The large wooden vats have a very small surface area for the volume of wine involved which gives the wine its bright red color and fruity taste.

The second type of aging process is called oxidative aging. Wines are stored in smaller cask where the surface area to volume is larger than in the large wooden tanks. This type of port wine will have a mahogany hues and complex tastes. The wines are tasted regularly to determine what effect the aging time is having on the wine.

Ruby Port

Ruby port is aged for a minimum of 2 years in large vats prior to being bottled. It has a rich red color and a full fruity taste.

Tawny Port

Tawny port is aged for 2 years in the smaller casks and then bottled. It has a deep mahogany color and a drier wine with a nuttier taste.

Aged Tawny Port

Aged tawny port is usually aged for 10 years but some of the more expensive ones have been aged for more than 40 years.

Colheita Port

Colheita port is aged for at least seven years in the smaller casks before being bottled. It also only uses grapes from a single harvest year and is not blended with grapes harvested from other years. The label will have the year of the harvest.

White Port

White port is aged for two to three years in casks and then bottled. The taste can vary from very sweet to a light dry flavor. This is the type of port usually reserved for the drink called the Port Splash.

Crusted Port

Crusted port is a ruby port that is aged for about 3 years in cask and then finishes the aging process in the bottle. It is a blend of grapes from several different years and it is not filtered before being bottled which is why it will have sediment in the bottle.

Single Quinta Port

Single quinta port is Tawny port that uses grapes from a single vineyard and has been aged in casks for 2 years before being bottled. The wine is allowed to age in the bottle for five to fifty year more.

Vintage Port

Vintage port is aged for two years in large vats prior to being bottled and then it is allowed to age for five to fifty years in the bottle. It is one of the most sought after wines in the world and also one of the most expensive.

David Cowley has created numerous articles on Wines. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to wine information. Visit Wine Information

Port wine is so named because it is a wine from Porto in Portugal. It is typically a sweet red rich wine but also comes in pink and white too. It is a fortified wine. This means that additional spirits have been added to the original liquid during its manufacture. In the case of port wine it is brandy that has been added to the wine during the fermentation process. This addition of the brandy to the wine halts the fermentation process and ensures that there is sugar left in the wine which will increase its alcohol content. The wine is then aged in cellars before it is bottled.

Port is only made in the Douro Valley region, this is one of the oldest protected regions in the world. It is divided into three separate areas each which is known for producing a different type of port. The first area is called Baixo Corgo which produces mostly inexpensive ruby and tawny ports; the second Cuma Corgo produces wines of a higher quality and the third the Douro Superior produces fine wines.

Port wine comes in many different styles and it is often confusing when you look on the labels of the bottles – there are however basically two categories, those that are matured in oak barrels and those that are matured in sealed glass bottles.

Tawny ports are wines that are aged in barrels. They are sweet dessert wines with a nutty flavour which the barrel has imparted to them during the aging process. There are different types of tawny port which vary in price according to the length of time that they have been maturing in the barrel, they can get quite expensive!

Ruby Port is the cheapest type of port wine. It is bottle aged and does not generally improve with age – it is however still a fabulous drink and as it doesn’t improve once it is open you have no choice but to drink it all – a good buy for Christmas when you need that after dinner drink!

As well as traditional red port wine there are white and pink ports also available. These are usually served cold as an aperitif in the same way that sherry is served but they also make a great base for a cocktail should you be having that kind of party. Another interesting fact is that when white port is aged for a long time the colour changes so significantly due to the tannins in the barrel that it is often hard to distinguish it from the red version.

Port is a great wine to have in the cupboard at Christmas. It is a warming drink that epitomises the season.