Portugal Wine Notes — 25/06/2008

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History

The roots of Portuguese viticulture are probably traceable to Phoenicans who traded here long before the Romans arrived. The grapes seem to have a different provenance from Spain or from the rest of western Europe for that matter. DNA testing will eventually reveal all.

Things got interesting when the British arrived in the late 17th century. They were seeking a source of wine during one of the regular spats with the French. They found wines, but too thin to survive the passage to England, so local spirit was added to strengthen them. Not long after they hit upon the idea of fortifying the wines before fermentation finished, so capturing an extra degree of sweetness, a much prized commodity in wine at the time, and Port as we know it today was born. It was at this time that the great Port shippers were founded with the finest houses names such as Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman coming into being in 1691. The UK remains the largest export market for premium Ports such as Vintage and LBV.

The Region

The River Duoro has carved a steep channel through the mountains of northern Portugal. The Port vineyards start at the Spanish border and follow the Douro downstream, to around halfway down its Portuguese length. The vineyards are planted on sheer terraces of the valley, the finest on schist, others on hard granite, the bedrock on which much of Portugal rests.

The vineyards have been subdivided as follows:

Baixo Corgo: The most western and wettest part, it gives lighter wines that are mainly destined for table wines or commercial Tawny and Ruby.

The Cima Corgo: Around the town of Pinhao, the climate is a few degrees warmer and drier than in Baixo. It is here on the steep terraces that the finest grapes are grown, at the shipper’s Quintas, and by an army of growers.

The Douro Superior: This vast, high and inhospitable zone abuts the Spanish border. It was long shunned but with increasing demand, shippers have taken to exploiting it, with notable success.

In addition to this, the vineyards are graded on a point scale from A - F. The points are awarded on a complicated assessment of factors including soil type, altitude, age of vines and slope. This grading governs the amount of Port that can be made by any grower in a given year. This system helps prevent a Port lake and maintains a minimum standard of wine throughout the industry.

The Vines

There is a variety of vines in the Douro that can be used for Port, the following are the main protagonists and all Port is a blend.

Tinto Cão: Top quality vine whose low yields led made it unpopular. Now making a come back.

Touriga Nacional: Wonderful vine that loves heat and gives tannic wines with abundant black fruits and develops well over time.

Tinta Roriz: (Tempranillo). Fine. Valued for acidity.

Touriga Francesca: Good for adding finesse and fragrance to blends.

Tinta Barroca: Its high sugar content gives both sweetness and glycerine to blends.

Making Port

Port differs from other great fortified wines in that the spirit is added before the fermentation is complete, thus leaving residual sugar.

The traditional way of pressing the grapes was to load them into shallow cement vats, known as ‘lagars’ and press them by foot. In the 1970’s there was a move to stainless steel tanks and ‘auto vinifiers’. Labour was becoming expensive and the lodges needed a cheap, effective way of mixing the fermenting wine and skins together. Recently some have questioned this method and some have gone as far as to re-install lagars, which can achieve finer results.

Most Ports are then moved from the Douro vineyards to Vila Nova de Gaia, which lies opposite Oporto. Here they are aged in cask for varying lengths of time and blended according to the type of Port they are destined to become.

The Wines

Port is graded largely according to the method of its production and ageing. Here are the main categories and styles:

Vintage Port: The pinnacle of Port (at least as far as the British Lodges are concerned). Only made in the finest years, when a shipper will ‘declare’. This accounts for only 1% of production and the wines spend a strictly limited time in cask before bottling (usually no more than two years) and can take decades of bottle ageing.

Single Quinta Port: Port from a single farm that is made in the same way as Vintage Port. These were conceived as second wines, from years which were only good enough to make a lighter Vintage style wine from the shipper’s own Quinta.

This is no longer the whole story as some independent Quintas now sell their wines direct, and they make Vintage wines in the best years and they also make tawny styles. Furthermore some of the Quintas owned by shippers, such as Taylors ‘Quinta da Vargellas’, is now declared in top years too.

Late Bottled Vintage: A quality Port from a single year that is given longer (4-6 years) in cask. This softens the wine, making it ready to drink. Some are bottled unfiltered on their sediments and have ageing potential too.

Vintage Character: This is a step up from Ruby and a distinct step down from Vintage.

Ruby Port: The industry staple, this is a wine that has had some cask ageing and is ready on release.

Tawny Port: Basic Tawny, as opposed to aged Tawny is a low grade drink made from blending Ruby and White port.

10, 20, 30 year old Tawny: A Port aged in cask, thus losing colour. These are quality red port wines which have had extended ageing in cask, during which time they lose sweetness and gain acidity through oxidation. The result is nutty, complex, and pale, amber tawny coloured.

Colheita: A tawny Port from a single year bottled with the harvest date. This style is popular on the Portuguese market, which does not really appreciate Vintage Port. It is seldom exported.

White Port: Made from white grapes. Some are sweetish and a touch oxidised, the best are absolutely dry and have had only minimal cask aging. Best served ice cold on a hot day.

Portuguese Table Wines

The Portuguese drink formidable quantities of wine. It is virtually all Portuguese. This means that with the exception of Port and Madeira the big market for Portuguese wine is Portugal.

So it was easy for the wine industry to be inward looking, backward and stuck in its own cul-de-sac of fruit free, oxidised or acid wines. That this is no longer the case is down to a handful of dynamic individuals, some ran major wine companies such as Sogrape and J.M de Fonseca, some such as Luis Pato are owners of top estates and two, Peter Bright and David Baverstock, are Australian winemakers who landed here some 25 years ago and stayed. Portuguese table wines have come on leaps and bounds in the past 20 years, and sadly are now appreciated by the Portuguese. If there is a small harvest, then export surplus dries up.

Douro: The proportion of grapes that cannot be turned into Port is grown with table wine production in mind. These wines can be excellent, especially when from the best varietals. Things have moved on a long way since the days when table wines were made of the 'left overs', partially at least because a good table wine can earn more money for the producer than almost all styles of port. The grapes are likely to be sourced from cooler sites than the grapes used for port.

Dão: Dao is another great source of good, affordable Portuguese wine, the best is made from Touriga Nacional. Until recently the wine was as tough as old boots yet not as appetising. Things have changed, and new style Dão is robust yet fragrant.

Bairrada: This area has got a great grape, the Baga. The wines are intense, savoury, well structured and are great food wines.

Around Lisbon: Up stream on the River Tagus and over the river to the south there are fascinating wines. Muscat from Setubal can be impressive.

Alentejo: An inland region south of Lisbon that under-performed for years. It hit the headlines when Peter Bright made Tinto da Anfora and won the International Wine Challenge Best Red Wine trophy. Esporão is probably the leading estate.

Vinho Verde: The flip side of Portuguese wine, the green wines, which can be red. These light table wines of the north are generally too thin and acidic for anyone other than the Portuguese.

Portuguese Cuisine

The Portuguese table is perhaps the most grossly under-rated in Europe. It is full of character and strong tastes, so is a bit love it or loathe it. Well, we are fond of it and know the best places to go!

Caldo verde: Shredded cabbage soup.
Espetada: Skewered chunks of meat. Best when cooked over a laurel twig fire.
Milho frito or cozido: Cornmeal, often fried.
Caldeirada: Fish stew.
Porco Alentejano: Pork and clam stew.
Lulas: (Squid). It comes served fried, stewed, stuffed or skewered with onions and peppers.
Bacalhãu: Dried cod, can be cooked 365 ways. A good Bacalhãu, prepared well is delightful. Cheap Bacalhãu prepared in a hurry, is near indigestable.
Espada: Madeira’s best fish, it is white and flaky.
Sardinas Assadas na Brasa: Grilled sardines.
Leitão: Roast pork.
Cabrito: Roast kid.
Bolo de Mel: Cake made from Molasses.
Pasteis de Belem: Delicious individual custard tarts, dusted with cinamon. (A must have with 'Uma bica'.

In Portugal, as in Italy, coffee drinking is a ritual.
Uma bica: An espresso. (The roast is quite rich).
Um galão: A small latte.
Um cafe com leite: A regular white