The Power Of Port Wine

The 5 Best Ports, 2 Cocktail Recipes & Port Fun Facts

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Inside Cálem’s cavernous port cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, one million liters of port wine are aging in giant wooden vats and inside oak barrels stacked to the rafters. The cool, dark cave smells of wet granite and wine must, with an underlying funk of dried fruit, leather, and even coffee grounds—flavors you might taste if you tapped a barrel and sampled the tawny port aging within. 

Cálem is one of dozens of port cellars located across the Douro River from Porto in Vila Nova de Gaia, where the city’s eponymous fortified wine—called port—matures before it’s shipped abroad. Though port wine accounts for a fraction of the world’s wine sales, it is gaining in popularity, especially among millennials. They view it as an affordable luxury, according to the 2023 Global Port Wine Market Report. 

How Port Is Shaking Its Old-Man Status

That point is driven home on this tour and tasting at the city’s busiest port cellar, where visitors learn about the drink’s history and production before sampling its many styles in the tasting room. I keep expecting to stumble across groups of fellas my dad’s age in this ‘man cave’ cellar, smoking cigars and drinking from stemmed port sippers. Instead, I’m surrounded by men and women in their 30s and 40s.

“More people are coming to find out what port is and what it represents, regardless of age or gender,” says José Bastos, Cálem’s operations manager. “After discovering how it’s produced, the history of the product, and the enormous variety of colors and flavors, it becomes much more attractive.”

Who knew you could knock back chilled white port on a warm fall afternoon, or add ruby port to a Manhattan cocktail? Add in its fascinating history and scenic origins, and port becomes irresistible.

“When you taste it, get to know more about it and the Douro Valley, and search for quality port (over quantity), you fall in love with port wine,” says Ana Margarida with Fonseca, a port house with a 200-year-old pedigree. Then, it can easily become a passion, she says.

After sampling ports inside these two distinguished cellars, and at stops up and down the Douro River on a cruise with Avalon Waterways, I’m hooked. It speaks volumes for a style of wine that was created by accident.

How Port Wine Got Its Start

Port started its journey as wine, the grapes grown on the steep, terraced vineyards east of Porto in the Douro Valley, one of the world’s oldest demarcated wine regions, since 1756. After the wine was made at local “quintas,” or wine farms, it was shipped down the river in wooden boats called rabelos to age in Porto’s cooler, more humid coastal climate. It was then loaded onto ships bound for England. The only problem was the wine didn’t fare well on its overseas journey, tending to spoil or turn into vinegar. The solution was fortification. 

“People say that they started adding alcohol to the wine so it would be preserved for a longer time,” Bastos says.

The Brits developed a taste for this fortified wine and began calling it “port” since it was shipped from Porto.

Brandy is now routinely added to the must on about the third day of fermentation, which stops the yeast from eating up the grape juice sugars and results in a sweeter, stronger wine—most ports clock in at 16 to 20 percent ABV. 

As with wine, the types of grapes fermented determine the style of port. White grapes such as Arinto, Malvasia Fina, and Viosinho make white ports, while red grapes like Souzão, Touriga Franca, and Touriga Nacional make ruby, vintage, and tawny ports. Rosé port, a relative newcomer, is made similarly to rosé wine, with minimal exposure to red grape skins for a pink hue. 

Unlike wines, which are often a single varietal and a single vintage, ports are made using a blend of grapes from different years. There are exceptions, of course. Colheita tawny ports are from a single year, and Vintage ports are a style of ruby port that represents the best harvest from one outstanding year. (Vintage ports continue aging in the bottle and are meant for special occasions like milestone birthdays, weddings, or graduations). 

How long the port is aged, and whether it matures in wood vats or barrels, also influences its final flavor and color, and plays into how it’s enjoyed. Aged for six years or longer in oak, tawny ports are typically sipped solo after dinner, while younger white ports make a great cocktail base, for example. 

Final Toast To Port

Port’s versatility is helping port win new fans, too. “It’s starting to be popular all over the world,” agrees bar manager Tudor Vasilache, who serves four different kinds of port on board the river cruise ship the Avalon Alegria, along with Porto’s favorite cocktail, the port tonic (like a G&T, but with dry white port in place of gin). “It’s up to the bartender’s imagination how he can concoct a cocktail out of port wine. I mean, the sky’s the limit.”

Just how popular will Portugal’s fortified wine become? Now that port is leaving its old-man reputation back in the caves, its potential appears limitless. As they say in Portuguese, Saúde! 

2 Port Wine Drink Recipes

Port Tonic

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz dry white port, such as Martha’s Fine Dry White Port

• 3 oz tonic water

• Lime and lemon wedges 

Method:

Combine the ingredients over ice in a rocks glass and garnish with a lime and lemon wedge.

— Courtesy Tudor Vasilache, bar manager, Avalon Alegria

Bar Drake Manhattan

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Ruby Port Fonseca Bin 27

• 2.25 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon

• 1 bar spoon maple syrup

• 1 dash Angostura bitters

• Cherries

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with skewered cherries.

— Courtesy Fonseca

5 Must-Try Port Wines

White: Cálem Fine White

This white port is delicate and aromatic on the nose, with fruit and floral notes. On the mouth, it’s off-dry, smooth, and balanced, and can be enjoyed on the rocks or in a cocktail such as a Port Tonic. 

Rosé: Quevedo Porto Rosé

Pretty in pink with a strawberry bouquet, this velvety port is light and easy on the palate. Enjoy it chilled on warm fall days, paired with salty appetizers or mixed into a cocktail.

Ruby: Niepoort Ruby

Fresh and fruity, this port’s cherry bouquet expresses itself on the mouth, and those sweet notes are rounded out with great balance and drinkability. Enjoy it after a meal, on its own, or paired with soft cheeses.  

Vintage: Fonseca Vintage 2009

Dark red in color, this excellent Vintage port delivers a vibrant aroma of dark fruits that follows through on the palate, along with a mineral character. Youthful yet balanced, it pairs well with walnuts and dried fruit, or with friends over great conversation.

Tawny: Cálem Porto Colheita Tawny 2002

The caramel, dried fruit, and nutty notes of this single-vintage tawny translate into a sweet and structured sip, with a lingering finish. Drink it solo after dinner or paired with something sweet such as a pastel de nata (egg custard pastry tart).