It would be difficult to conjure up any image more completely English than that of the lord of the manor and his guests seated in an oak paneled library after dinner, there sipping glasses of old Port wine with good cigars, a large wedge of Stilton cheese, apples and walnuts in front of them. There may be something barbaric about the English habit of excluding women from these tastings, but there is nothing barbaric about good Port.

Made from grapes harvested on the vineyards above the Douro River in northern Portugal, Port wine has been prized since the Roman occupation of that country nearly 2,200 years ago. The special relationship between Englishmen and Port started only in 1654, when a treaty gave English merchants special concessions in trading with Portugal. Even today, most port-producing companies have English names and most are run by English-Portuguese families.

Douro is one of the last regions in the world where the pressing of the grapes is done by human feet. The grapes are dumped into large wooden vats and barefooted men and women, with their trousers or skirts rolled up, link their arms and tread on the grapes, marching systematically back and forth for 2 hour periods. During rest periods, the workers drink not wine but Bigaceira, a coarse brandy similar to French marc or Italian grappa.

During the three day fermentation period, the natural sugar in the grapes turns to alcohol. When the alcohol level reaches 6 - 7%, grape brandy is added for in addition to killing the yeasts that cause the fermentation, this also allows the wine to maintain a high sugar content. The brandy also brings the wine up to the 18 - 20% alcohol level that adds to the character of the wine and makes it long-lived.

The Styles of Port Wine

Port wine has a special language. With the recent introduction to the local market of three wines from the highly respected house of "Graham", the time has come for local consumers to familiarize themselves with the categories of these wines.

Vintage Port, which is the fortified wine held in highest regard 0;Ë throughout the world, is made only from the very best and ripest grapes of a single vintage. Vintage years, which are "declared" only about three times each decade are aged for only two years in oak casks before bottling. The best vintage port wines will not reach their peak of maturity for 20, 30 and sometimes even 40 years. At their proper maturity, vintage port is lush, rich, robust, intense, complex and concentrated.

The very best vintage years of the century have been 1912, 1927, 1945, 1955, 1970, and 1977, all of which are now drinking very nicely; 1985, which is just beginning to be ready to drink; and 1991, 1992 and 1994, all of which need at least 15 more years before they will be ready to drink.

Port of the Vintage: Despite the similarity of names, this is definitely not vintage port, often coming from years when a vintage has not been declared. Unlike Vintage ports, these wines may spend 15 - 20 years in wood, the long contact with the wood rounding off the wine's rough edges. These wines are often excellent but never as fine as wines from declared vintage years.

Crusted Port: All old port yields a heavy sediment when it is matured, which is why old ports should always be decanted. Wines carrying this name come from non-vintage years, and are then aged for 4 years in wood to purposely encourage a sediment to develop.

Late Bottled Vintage Port comes from good but not great years, is is kept in oak for anywhere from 3 - 5 years before bottling and is soft and ready to drink at a young age.

Tawny Port is made by blending the wines of several years and letting them age in casks. In addition to wines that are released young, some are aged in casks for 10, 20, 30 or more years, during this time losing the purple tinge of young wine and turning somewhat brownish or "tawny". Light and smooth, and sometimes quite excellent, these wines appeal to consumers who feel that the richness of Vintage Port is overwhelming. Produced in great quantities, tawny port is a good introduction to port wine in general.

Ruby Port is ruby colored, made from very young wines blended from 08Ë non-vintage yers. Rich, fruity and sweet, these wines are rarely left for aging. Even though they are popular, these are the least impressive Ports wines and most drinkers pass quickly from Ruby to Tawny ports which are far more subtle and better balanced.

Single Qunita Ports are made from the grapes of a single vineyard, when one producer or another claims that the grapes are so great that they should not be blended. With the exception of the Qunita do Noval produced by Silva, I find these wines of dubious quality.

White Port: Because they are produced in the same area that produces the great red wines of Port, these wines are technically entitled to their name. Most serious wine lovers perceive these dry or semi-dry white wines as more of a curiosity than anything else. Oddly enough, it is mostly the French who have consumed white Port and even in France it is now falling out of favor.

To see my review of several Port wines and others of the wines of Portugal, click here.

© Daniel Rogov