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Port. The word conjures up images of professors swirling glasses of the
ruby-coloured wine, discussing philosophy by a log fire.
 A wine of depth, concentration and majestic structure, port is produced
from grapes grown on the rocky slopes of northern Portugal's Upper Douro and
its tributaries, and was discovered during the 17th century when two British
traders added brandy to preserve the local wine for an Atlantic voyage.
They soon found that "fortifying" did more than protect the wine, it
improved it, giving it the power to mature into something unique,
transformed in the cool wine lodges in the tight streets of Vila Nova de
Gaia, across the River Douro estuary from
Porto.
Huge signs above the terracotta rooftops announce the big guns of the
port world - Cockburn's, Ferreira, Sandeman and Taylor's. Many offer
tastings and tours for visitors and this is where we find ourselves on a
sunny autumn afternoon.
It doesn't take us long to realise that there's more to port than
watching a pipe-smoking uncle crack open a bottle once a year after a
Christmas roast. Rubies, tawnies, vintages . . . the more you taste, the
more you understand the complexities of the types - or at least that's my
excuse. We could stay for days searching for the perfect tipple, but it's
time to put our glasses down and travel to the spectacular World Heritage
Douro Valley where the liquid is produced.
From Porto, we head south-east into the Douro Valley. Vines have been
grown on these remote hillsides since pre-Roman times, planted on tiers of
walled terraces, the product of centuries of toil.
Driving through grape country is pure pleasure, with each vista better
than the last. It's late September and harvest time. Specks of colourfully
clad pickers carrying baskets dot the hillsides. A heady, sweet aroma fills
the air and every second vehicle seems to be a tractor pulling a trailer
loaded with precious fruit.
At Quinta Seara D'Ordens, near the town of Peso da Regua, we ask Antonio
Moreira (one of three brothers who run the winery), what are the secrets of
making good port? "If you don't have good grapes you don't have good wine,"
Moreira says. "Climate is important, too, and so are the terraces that help
to retain moisture in the soil."
Several kilometres away at Quinta da Pacheca, a team of several men with
arms interlocked stomps up and down inside a wide stone tank regimented by
the chief of the group. "One-two-left-right," shouts Alvaro to his crack
grape-tramping team. It's like a cross between the All Blacks before a rugby
game and a scene from Monty Python.
But this is serious stuff. All the hard labour is designed to extract as
much colour and flavour from the grapes without crushing the pips and stems
that would give the wine a tannic edge. After trampling the grapes for a few
lengths of the tank, the team takes a break, has a drink of wine and then
does the same again. "No machines can yet match the sensitivity of the human
foot," says Alvaro.
After witnessing this curious tradition, there could scarcely be anywhere
more appropriate to spend the night than the Vintage House in Pinhao,
situated on the edge of the River Douro, surrounded by vineyards.
If the Douro Valley is the cradle of Portugal's port trade then the
Vintage Hotel is the epicentre. Everything here oozes class, quality and a
knowledge of the purple nectar. We spend a convivial evening in the Library
Bar watching a bottle of vintage Taylor's being opened in an age-old ritual.
Instead of using a corkscrew, the bottle is placed on its side in a wire
cradle. The neck is then severed by using a special pair of tongs (tenaz)
that have been preheated. This is to avoid disturbing the sediment inside
the bottle.
Once decanted, vintage port, like all bottle-aged wines should ideally be
drunk the same day.
Traditionally, the port decanter is passed clockwise around the table
from right to left. Pass it left to right, diagonally or under the table at
your own risk.
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