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Key Choices that Affect the Style, Quality and Price of Port

Key Choices that Affect the Style, Quality and Price of Port

The French have imposed upon their wine country a system of calling out quality wine regions. It is quite elaborate, defining levels of wonderfulness that impose progressively stricter rules at the higher levels of elegance. The French have even taken these practices and imposed them upon other wine growing countries that they have occupied or have had as colonies. But the real genius of this began on the 10th of September in 1756, in Portugal. Shocked?

The Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula

This week, City Vino explores a bit of the Iberian Peninsula with its weekly wine tasting on Friday October 14th, and Saturday October 15th. It is indeed interesting to get to know a little bit about a region from its wines, but let us share some non-wine related information with you. (There will be no quiz. I promise.)

Port, the Oldest of the Fortified Wines

Port, the Oldest of the Fortified Wines

There are actually a wide variety of fortified wines in the world, for which Port is just one kind. But it is a special one, and of the fortified wines, it is the oldest. Fortifying means that a grape spirit, or brandy, is added to the wine to help preserve it. The brandy is added during fermentation, which then kills the yeast as the yeast can only survive in an environment that is just so high in alcohol. This means that wine retains its sweetness. From here, the wine goes into a series of ageing containers. Depending on how long the ageing process is, the wine maker is making Ruby or Tawny port.