Port Wine is really fortified wine. So how did this come about?
It is a known fact that vines were cultivated and wine made in the Upper Douro Valley during the Roman occupation.
However, it was only in the second half of the 17th century that production expanded noticeably…the British had ‘discovered’ the wine of this region.
One story has it that in 1678 two brothers of a rich English merchant came to Oporto to study Portuguese wines. They took up residence in a monastery in the Douro region. They tasted the local wines finding them delicious, especially when adding a little Portuguese aguardente (distilled grape spirits) to them. It was also discovered that by doing this these fortified wines better withstood the different temperatures and the lengthy voyage to England. By now enormous quantities of this ‘precious nectar’ was finding its way to English tables.
In 1703, the Treaty of Methuen was signed with Great Britain in which Port Wine benefited from preferential import duties. England was at war with France and no longer had access to French wines. Soon England became Port Wine’s first big market. The English bought up a number of quintas(estates) along the 100 kilometer (62 miles) upper Douro valley.
Since high prices were being fetched for these wines, they were also sought out by other European countries. The inhabitants of the Douro region began to give up traditional farming to dedicate themselves almost entirely to viticulture.
The Douro Valley was established as a protected region, or appellation, in 1756. It is the oldest defined and protected wine region in the world.
Today, much of the port trade remains in British hands. Only the product from Portugal can be labelled as Port Wine.
Régua and Pinhão are the main centers of production.
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