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PortFortified Wine
Port
Port
Port wine is also known as Vinho do Porto, Porto, or Porto wine, it is a sweet, fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern part of Portugal, it takes its name from the city of Oporto, this is the heart of port export and trading. Port has been produced in Portugal since the early to mid 1500s. After the Methuen Treaty of 1703 port became very sought after in England, this is mainly because merchants were allowed to import it at a low duty and also during the war with France wine drinkers were deprived of French wine.
The continued English involvement in the port trade can be seen in the names of many port shippers:  Croft, Taylor, Dow, Graham, Symington. Similar wines, often also called "Port", are produced in several other countries, such as South Africa, Australia, India and the United States. It has been produced in and around St. Augustine, Florida since 1640
Port is typically richer, sweeter, heavier, and possesses a higher alcohol content than other wines. This is a result of additional distilled grape spirits to fortify the wine and stop the fermentation process before all the sugar is converted to alcohol. It is commonly served after meals as a dessert wine, or with cheese. In France, white port is served as an apéritif. It has an A.B.V of 18% - 20%.
Wine with less than 15% ethanol cannot protect itself against spoilage if exposed to air; with an alcohol content of 18% or higher, port wine can safely be stored in wooden casks that 'breathe', thereby permitting the fine aging of port wine.
Port comes in several varieties this includes:
Vintage
Though it represents only a fraction of port that is produced just one percent over all, it is the flagship wine of all Portugal. It is made entirely from grapes of a declared vintage year. Only certain years are declared a vintage in the Douro, those that present the right conditions which are favorable to particularly flavorful crops of grapes. The decision to declare a vintage is made by each independant port house, and is based on several factors, most importantly the weather and the ability of the marketplace to absorb a new vintage.
While it is by far the most renowned type of port, from a volume and revenue point of view, vintage port only makes up a small percentage of the production of a typical port house. Vintage ports are aged in barrels for no longer than 2 and after bottling often require another 5 to 15 years of aging in the bottle before reaching the proper drinking age. Since they only spend a short time in barrels, they retain their ruby color and fresh fruit flavors. Particularly fine vintage ports can continue to gain complexity and drink wonderfully for decades after they were bottled, and therefore can be very sought after and quite expensive.
Ports made outside Portugal can sometimes be labeled with a vintage date, but this is rarely the case as they dont have the frsh taste or longevity as their portugese counterparts. They are vintage in the sense that they come from the produce of a specific year, but in most other respects are the opposite. This type of port is meant to be drunk young.
Tawny
Tawny is a port is aged in wooden barrels, exposing it to gradual oxidation and evaporation, this causes its color to mellow to a golden-brown after ten years or so in wood. Often they have noticeable nutty flavors. Tawny port without an indication of age is a basic port. Aged tawny port is a blend of several vintages, with the years stated on the label: 10, 15, 20, and 30 years are common.
Tawny ports from a single vintage are called Colheitas (pronounced col-YATE-ah, meaning harvest or vintage). Tawny and Colheita ports are always ready to drink when produced and dont really benefit from aging in bottle, but in sayin this they will not degrade either. Tawny's are the most resistant of all the ports to oxidation because it has already been exposed to oxygen.
Garrafeira
Garrafeira port is similar to Colheita. It is made from grapes of a single vintage, aged in wood between three and six years and then aged in large approximately 10L glass demijohns (a large glass container) for an extended time.
Late-Bottled Vintage (LBV)
LBV (Late-Bottled Vintage) port was designed to provide some of the experience of drinking a vintage port but without the decade-long wait. LBV port is aged between four to six years in wooden barrel, to mature it more quickly. Typically ready to drink when released, LBV ports are the produce of a single year's harvest and tend to be a bit smoother and lighter-bodied than a vintage port. LBV ports that are filtered do not require decanting as they are ready to drink at bottling, unfiltered or trraditional LBV ports require decanting before drinking like vintage ports do, and may improve in the bottle.
Reserve or Vintage Character
The confusingly named Vintage Character or Reserve port is essentially a premium Ruby port. In 2005, the IVDP prohibited the use of the term "Vintage Character" replacing it with the term "Reserve."
Crusted
Crusted port is a blend of port wine from several years, but retains the crust otherwise restricted to vintage ports.
Ruby
Ruby port may contain wine from several vintages. Ruby ports are fermented in wood and aged in glass, which preserves the wine's red color. It is considerably cheaper than vintage port, and can be used in cooking or to make cocktails.
White Port
White port is made from white grapes, and generally served as a chilled aperitif. It is the only one which is optionally available dry as well.
 
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