KEY POINTS:
Port is the Portugese wine that owes its existence to the English, who were abetted by their appalling relations with the French. That was centuries ago and the relationships, like the port, have evolved nicely.
Englishmen had their claret pipeline severed in 1677 when French wine was banned from entering the country. War broke out the following year. To fill the vacuum, the wines of Portugal, already present in England, began to be looked at more seriously.
Along the banks of the upper Douro, the English found wines that were dark, tannic and more to their liking than those from Portugal's coastal regions. These upper Douro wines were also naturally quite sweet, which made the addition of brandy necessary to prevent fermentation continuing in the barrel during the voyage to England. Exploding casks in the hold did nothing to improve an already fraught passage across the Bay of Biscay.
That's the most probable explanation for the birth of port. The new drink's name came by lopping off the vowels, fore and aft, from Oporto, the wine-shipping town at the mouth of the Douro.
What's remarkable is how successful the English were in creating a wine that does, in a strange way, echo their beloved claret. This is really evident only in vintage port, the greatest and most vinous expression of the drink, particularly when it is well-aged. When I tasted one of the greatest wines ever to pass my lips, a 1945 Taylor's Vintage Port, that was my first reaction: this is so like Bordeaux.
It's doubly strange when you consider the grapes that go into port are all indigenous Portugese varieties. No less than 40 plus varieties are permitted for red port, although the mainstays are Tinta Amarela, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional
The French have never cared for port, perhaps because its creation was partly intended to deprive them of their livelihood. Dumont D'Urville was exercising his patriotic duty by turning down the port he was offered at James Busby's house at Waitangi in 1840. His response would no doubt have been different had the suggested drink been a Banyuls or a Maury, Frances own fortified red wines. As it was, he did accept a glass of Busby's home-grown white.
Vintage ports ability to evolve beautifully over time is legendary. It's almost criminal to break open any bottle less than 20 years old. But we do, the excuse usually being the need to see where it's at.
Recommended
1985 Dows Vintage Port
This balanced, layered, relatively delicate 27-year-old port is a worthy representative of the standout port vintage of the 1980s. Black fruit and mellow, spicy secondary flavours packaged in smooth tannins. Very lengthy. Treat yourself, it's at its peak. You'll find it at specialist wine stores for $135.80.
