3: Port

Question 1

What is port? Where does it come from?

Answer 1

a sweet, fortified wine hailing from the Douro region of Portugal

Question 2

What is the origin story of Port? When did it originate?

Answer 2

• originates from trade wars between England and France in the 17th century
• caused England to increase trade with Portugal
• powerful red wines became popular in England

Question 3

What was originally added to the wines as a fortifier? Why?

Answer 3

• brandy

- added to stabilise the dry wines and make sure they arrived in England in good condition

Question 4

When did the practice of fortifying the wine during fermentation start?

Answer 4

• when two British merchants visited the Abbot of Lamego
• found the sweet wines made there were of a higher quality than the dry wines they had seen anywhere else
• shipped the entire stocks to England

Question 5

Name 5 of the famous original Port shippers.

Answer 5

• Kopke
• Warre
• Croft
• Quarles Harris
• Taylor’s

Question 6

Traditionally, what was the role of shippers?

Answer 6

• agents took a commission for shipping Port abroad
• acquired Port from brokers in the Douro and then stored them in ‘lodges’ (wine cellars/warehouses) in Vila Nova de Gaia (located on opposite side of the mouth of the River Douro to Porto), prior to onward shipment overseas

Question 7

Today, what is the role of shippers?

Answer 7

• most shippers have since become producers

- have become dominant players in the production of Port, with their own vineyards, wineries and bottling facilities

Question 8

What as the Methuen Treaty? When was it signed?

Answer 8

• 1703

- ensured that Portuguese wines received lower rates of duty in England than those of any other country

Question 9

What did Port’s early popularity lead to?

Answer 9

• large amounts of poor-quality Port-style wines
• demand slumped
• over-supply
• falling grape and wine prices

Question 10

How were poor-quality Port-style wines made?

Answer 10

• using poor quality spirit
• thin wines
• bolster colour with additions such as elderberry juice

Question 11

How was the production of large amounts of poor-quality Port-style wines prevented? When?

Answer 11

• 1756
• Port vineyards officially demarcated, and production regulations drawn up
• Pombal created Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro, often referred to as Real Companhia Velha, from which all Ports for export had to be bought

Question 12

Who was the prime minister who officially demarcated Port vineyards and drew up production regulations?

Answer 12

Marquês de Pombal

Question 13

What was the role of the Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro?

Answer 13

• aka Real Companhia Velha
• all exported Ports had to be bought here
• fix prices
• exclusive right to supply the spirit used in fortification

Question 14

Why was the early 19th century challenging?

Answer 14

• the Douro and wider Portugal suffered through the Peninsular Wars and Portuguese Civil War
• mildew and then phylloxera

Question 15

What happened as a result of mildew and then phylloxera in the vineyards?

Answer 15

• many small growers and producers needed to sell their land and properties in order to survive
• shippers took advantage of low prices and started to own vineyards and quintas (estates)

Question 16

What was created in the first half of the 20th century? When?

Answer 16

the Instituto do Vinho do Porto (IVP­, 1933)

Question 17

What is the Instituto do Vinho do Porto?

Answer 17

• aka IVP
• responsible for the administration and supervision of the Port industry and the Casa do Douro (1932), a secondary authority to supervise the growers within the Port demarcation
• Casa do Douro and then the IVP also controlled the purchase of the spirit (aguardente) with which producers could fortify their wines

Question 18

What classification did the IVP start?

Answer 18

• vineyard parcels in the Douro were rated A through to I based on their suitability for producing Port
• a classification that remains today

Question 19

What happened in the early 1980s?

Answer 19

World Bank Scheme offered low-interest loans to Douro growers who could plant or replant up to 10 hectares of vineyard provided that:

1. the land was classified as being of either A or B grade
2. only 5 prescribed varieties were used

Question 20

What vineyard research program was started in the 1980s? Who was it funded by?

Answer 20

• funded by major shippers (Cockburn’s, Ferreira and Ramos Pinto) joined with the local university
• around 2,500 ha of vineyards planted on wider terraces called patamares, and with blocks of the prescribed varieties (compared to the usual field blend)

Question 21

When did Portugal enter the EU? What was the main result?

Answer 21

• 1986
• by 1991, producers permitted to source their own aguardente on the open market, leading to a rise in quality in the spirit used and hence of Port overall

Question 22

What controversial purchase occurred in 1990? Why was it controvercial? What did it lead to?

Answer 22

• Casa do Douro controversially bought 40 per cent of the shares in one of the largest shippers of the time, Royal Oporto
• it was thought to allow growers to trade their own products
• venture not a success and a few years later the Casa do Douro became bankrupt

Question 23

What was created to supervise both Port and Douro wine producers? What did this reflect?

Answer 23

• a new interprofessional body introduced by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Porto e do Douro (IVDP) created to supervise both Port and Douro wine producers
• reflected the growing importance of dry Douro wines alongside Port

Question 24

What developments have been made in the first decades of the 21st century?

Answer 24

• number of issues were found with the first patamares and now a newer, improved version has been developed
• continued focus on 5 prescribed varieties, but also other local grape varieties are increasingly being noted and used for the characteristics they can bring to a blend
• depopulation in vineyard areas has meant that alternative solutions to traditional foot treading continue to be perfected and are now used for wines of all levels of quality