Port is a fortified red or white wine that is made with the grape varieties that grow specifically in the Douro River Valley in Portugal. As one of the leading wine production locations in the world, Portugal is known for its delicious, rich wine blends, their port wine selection being the most popular of all.

For the most part, this type of wine is blended and aged in the cellars at Vila Nova de Gaia, which is a city that is located just at the mouth of the Douro River in Portugal.

It is usually enjoyed before or after the entrée in a meal, and compliments most foods. A rich blue cheese is probably the best known accompaniment to this wine but certainly not the only one, so have some imagination and mix it up. It also goes very well with fruit and nuts.

Remember

This is not the only kind of wine that you can choose from however, so just make sure that you choose the specific wine that is going to go best with the particular dish that will be served. It can be hard to decide from the multitude of options available to you, especially if you do not have much experience with wine, but you will see how well worth it the effort of choosing the right one is.

If you ever need help choosing a wine, whether it is a port wine or other, one of the best things you can do is take some time and do some research. If you really want to come out of it all with the best possible results, gaining knowledge about the different types of wine is really going to help you out.

Also keep in mind that wherever you shop for your wine there will usually be knowledgeable and helpful employees who will be able to talk with you, figure out what you need the wine for and then help you to decide on the best one for your needs.

It is well worth it to choose the right wine, especially when you pair it with a meal and they compliment each other so well.

The History Of Port Wine

Making beverages is an age old tradition, be it beer, wine or any other beverage.  As with other wines, port wine is made from grapes and the original port wine was first made in Portugal, in a region in the north called Douro Valley.  There is evidence in this region of wine making clear back to the third and fourth centuries.  The modern method of making port wine was really established in the 15th century.

Douro Valley became known as the port wine capital and the name port wine comes from the seaport city of Porto which is at the mouth of the Douro Valley and where this special wine was shipped from.  In fact, the region where this wine is produced is considered “protected” because of its intricate part in the production of port wine, and the importance of this export to the region.

This type of wine is produced by combining the grapes and then adding additional distilled grapes to help amplify the alcohol flavor in the wine.  This combination of ingredients produces a sweet wine that is often referred to as a dessert wine because of the sweet flavor that it contains.  The port wine is then stored in barrels and the traditional method was to take the barrels to caves where it would be aged in a cool setting.

True port wine only comes from Portugal, but there are other wineries around the world that also make a similar wine.  These wines are as sweet as the traditional wine made in Portugal, but because of the tradition and history that is associated with this wine and Portugal, only wines produced in Portugal are allocated the exclusive title of port wine.

There are also traditions that involve the serving of this wine.  The host is expected to offer it to the person seated on their right and then they pass the bottle to the guest seated on their left.  This will occur all the way around the table.  This type of tradition adds to the uniqueness of the wine.

Port wine is a wonderful addition to a meal where the guests are still enjoying each others company.

The Types of Port Wine

While there are many different varieties of wine to choose from, one of the most popular of all wines is known as port wine.  This is a sweet wine that comes from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal.  Once the grapes from this area are grown and pressed, they are then fortified with the addition of distilled grape spirits, in order to boost the alcohol content before the wine making process is fully complete.  Port wine is usually served as a dessert wine, and there are many different versions of port wine that have been reproduced all around the world.

The Properties of Port Wine
 
Port wine is a very rich, very sweet, very heavy wine.  It also possesses a much higher alcohol content than most other wines do.  This is true of all of the different styles of port wine that are available.  The higher alcohol content is because of the way that the wine has been aged, either via reductive aging or oxidative aging.  Reductive aging takes place whenever wine is matured and aged in sealed tanks with no exposure to air.  On the other hand, wines that have matured in barrels with a small amount of exposure to oxygen have been through oxidative aging.

Vintage Port Wine

While vintage port wine is not as popular of a selection as some of the other varieties of port wine, it is truly Portugal’s flagship wine.  It is made entirely from grapes that come from a vintage year.  Of course, this causes this wine to be more expensive than many of the other port wines.  With these wines, you will also discover that the flavor is a lot more concrete and pungent, which is why it is really worth the extra bit of money.  Even this wine is usually paired with desserts, but you can also give it a try with a variety of other sweet tasting foods as well, so that you can determine your own personal preferences for this type of wine.