Kate Dingwall is a seasoned wine and spirits writer and trained sommelier.
Chilling a bottle will extend the lifespan - the cold slows down the oxidation process.īoth tawny and ruby ports could benefit from a slight chill, and white ports should be kept at fridge temperature. If you have an open bottle, you can store it at room temperature or in the fridge. It depends on how long you anticipate aging it for! If something is left to sit for time, let it rest on its side away from direct sunlight, just as you would any fine wine. Start your meal off with a port and tonic. Outside of those conventions, port is beautiful in cocktails and an excellent aperitif. Port is often served as an after-dinner drink - a digestif - alongside desserts or cheese and dried fruits. Like other fortified wines, port has a distilled spirit (in this case a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente) added to it to increase the alcohol content and help preserve the wine. The spirit is added during fermentation to stop the process, leaving unfermented sugar in the wine that gives port its notably sweet, rich character. “The name comes from the city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, which was the hub of the port wine trade from the late 1600's. “Port is a type of fortified wine produced in the Douro region of Portugal,” describes Anthony Caporale, Director of Spirits Education at the Institute of Culinary Education. Look for vintages that show potential, or consider vintage bottled-aged ports that are crafted to sit for years to come. Do you want a neat, after-dinner sipper for ending your meal on a high? Do you want a refreshing, bright port? Do you want something that shines in cocktails, or a white port to pair with tonic? Port is a diverse category, and find a bottle that suits your palate and purpose.Īre you planning on letting your port rest for years? Consider a port with age-worthy qualities.
Rose ports are a happy medium – easy for sunny days, after dinner drinks, and beyond.Ĭonsider how the port will be served in your glass. Whites are bright and best served chilled, vintage ports are pricier, but ready to sit in your cellar. White! Rose! Tawny! Vintage! There are different ports for different people. If you’re willing to spend a bit more on a show-worthy bottle, consider Cockburn’s Tawny ( view at Drizly). If you’re entering the category, Croft ( view at Drizly) makes a highly accessible bottle for fanatics, newcomers, and beyond. Just please remember-serve them nicely chilled. And that’s why we put together this list of our best port wine selections, so you can have your cake and drink it too. Thankfully, port wines are among the world’s top dessert wines, either to pair with a dessert or to have as a dessert. But don’t worry you don’t have to think about the wine, you just have to drink it.
Maybe all this mind-blowing history is too overwhelming to wrap your head around. In particular, the Alto Douro region is the planet’s oldest demarcated wine region (and a UNESCO World Heritage site) where wine has been made for over 2,000 years, technically making it a pre-historic winemaking region. There are many kinds of fortified sweet wines, but a wine is only considered port if the grapes are grown in Portugal’s Douro Valley region where many of today’s famed wineries were founded centuries ago. One is the very satisfying mostly-white, rosé, and red wines from the Vinho Verde region, and the other is the sweet fortified port wine which also happens to be one of the country’s national treasures. There are two kinds of wine that are distinctly Portuguese.
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