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Alice King’s wine course
Part 5: port
Our wine expert tells you all you need to know about this after-dinner delight
Port is a ‘fortified’ wine, which means that it has been strengthened with grape spirit. As a result, while standard table wines tend to have an average alcohol level of 11 per cent by volume, port is between 17.5 and 22 per cent.
Wines with a higher level are definitely more difficult to taste, so it’s probably best not to be too ambitious initially. Stick to comparing two or three at a time.
Proper port is from Portugal
While other countries and regions in the world make port-style wines, it’s the area of the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal that produces the real McCoy.
The ‘creation’ of port as we know it today is believed to have been made by accident. In order to stabilise Portuguese wines on their long voyage to England, brandy was added. Nowadays wine makers have taken this process one stage further and added grape spirit to stop the fermentation – thus the grape’s natural sweetness is retained in the wine.
There are lots of different styles of port. For a tasting, try sampling two or three of the following:
White port
Much more popular in Portugal than it is in England, though all the supermarkets stock it. It’s a bit like a sweetish vermouth, though more grapey. Try it as a different long drink with ice and soda. Expect to pay around £6 for white port.
Ruby port
So called because of its colour, this is the lightest and most inexpensive type of port. Try it either at room temperature or chilled neat on ice with lemonade. Expect to pay around £5 for a supermarket own label example.
Tawny port
As its name suggests, this is orangey brown in colour and richer than ruby port. It tastes great with Christmas cake and pudding. Supermarket own-label examples will set you back around £6, whereas aged tawny ports such as Warre or
Dow’s 10-year-old tawny are between £10 and £15. Again, these taste good chilled.
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