Port can be described as “sweet fortified wine.” Fortified means young brandy or “eau de vie” was added to the wine. Port wines are produced all over the world, but the name comes from a town in Portugal, called Oporto, where all port wine was originally shipped from. Today, port wine from Portugal will be labeled ”Porto” or ” Oporto” to demark it from other port wines. It is those wines labeled Porto that will be discussed herein.

Port comes in two types or styles that are named for their colors: Ruby and Tawny. Ruby port has a bright red color like a ruby or red garnet and its flavor is fruity and grapey. Tawny port has an amber or tawny color and a lighter, nuttier taste. ALL PORT IS SWEET. In Oporto, every winery, or “lodge” as they are called, produces a basic Ruby and Tawny that sell for around $10.00. At $1 per glass, these wines are obviously for any day consumption. The lodges produce many more styles than simple ruby and tawny. Here are some that are ruby port.

The royalty of Oporto are the Vintage ports. Vintage port is only produced in the best years, when the grapes get ripest—an average of 3 times a decade. It is made from the best fruit from the best vineyards. Vintage port is rich, heavy and expensive. ($50-$300) It is truly wine for a special occasion.

In the years that are not declared “Vintage”, the lodges put their best fruit into other wines. Most of it goes into oak barrels for long term ageing to become “Fine Aged Tawnies.” The biggest lodges, though, own specific prime vineyards and will use grapes from those harvests to make “Single Quinta” ports. Quinta in Portuguese means “farm.” These wines are exactly the same as Vintage Port except that they were not declared to be Vintage Port. In a Vintage Port year, fruit from these Quintas would be the backbone of the vintage wines. In non-vintage years, these vineyards still produce superior fruit, but the surrounding vineyards aren’t good enough, that year, to make Vintage Port. So, very high quality port can be found labeled as “Quinta de _________” made from that top-notch vineyard.

Another type of ruby port that is very popular and can be of very high quality is called “Late Bottled Vintage”—LBV. These wines are produced annually and are meant to be affordable alternatives to Vintage Port. It is called Late Bottled Vintage because the fruit is from one vintage and the wine was bottled after 4 to 6 years in oak barrels. Vintage Port is bottled after 2 to 3 years, so LBV is bottled “Late.” The extra time in wood softens the wine and accelerates the ageing process. The best LBV wines are labeled “Traditional” or “Unfiltered” and can attain great depth and power.

Now for some suggestions from each of the “Vintage” categories above:

Vintage Port:
Cockburn’s 1994 $69.99
Fonseca 1977 $269.99

Single Quinta:
Quinta da Cavadinha 1986 $34.99
Quinta do Vesuvio 1995 $68.99

Late Bottled Vintage:
Warre’s 1992 $21.99
Noval 1997 $19.99