SO...there
we were on the banks of the Douro River in Porto, looking across at all of the
port lodges. Most of them had British
names emblazoned in lights--Graham, Taylor, Sandeman... Wait a minute. I thought port was Portuguese. Well, it is, but with some interesting
history. Rick Steves to the rescue.
In his book Portugal, Rick
explains why so many ports have British names--many were originally British
owned or transported by British ships. During
the 18th century, when Britain was at war with France and when the duty for
importing Portuguese wine was low, the British turned to Portugal for its wine.
In order to preserve the wine during the sea transport, they introduced aguardente,
a grape brandy, to the wine after only a few days of fermentation. Voila--
their fortified, sweeter, 20% alcohol-content, wine was preserved during the
journey; port was born.
We wanted to visit a port lodge, but
which one of the many available? The
logo that grabbed us was the one for Sandeman. It's
a Don, in a Portuguese university student's black graduate cape, with a wide-brimmed
hat, holding a glass of ruby red port, against a vibrant yellow background. We saw a lot of these images on the Sandeman
vineyards on the banks of the Douro.
We walked across the pedestrian bridge to
Vila Nova de Gaia, home of all the port lodges, bought our tour tickets for an
hour later, and then wandered the streets to spy all of the other lodges we
were missing.
When we returned, our tour guide,
dressed as the Sandeman icon, was awaiting us and about thirty other
English-speaking folks. On our tour, we learned that Sandeman was founded in
1790 by a Scottish man named George Sandeman and is still run by a seventh
generation George Sandeman. Quite
amazing.
We walked through dark caves filled with
large vats and barrels of aging port, saw very expensive bottles of port from
the early 1900's, and watched a film about the Douro grape area and harvesting
history. All Portuguese port is made on
the Douro, one of the oldest designated wine regions in Europe, and stored in
Porto.
And then we had our port tasting. The first was a white port called Apitiv White, a blend of wines 2-5 years of age, which is often served chilled as an
aperitif. In fact, at a harbor
restaurant the next day, we were offered it with a spritzer of tonic water and
a slice of lemon over ice; it was a perfect beginning for a summer evening's
meal. I now want to find this here!
The second port was the Imperial
Reserve, a blend of 4 to 12 year old wines, which, our guide told us, is
wonderful with apple pie. We'll remember
that, in case we run into a good apple pie maker, though even without the apple
pie, we were sold on it as a rich sweet after dinner drink.
You might want to check out the Sandeman website to learn more on the making
of port, the need to decant (or not), and the time port stays fresh after the bottle
is opened.
And remember the advice we saw on a boat
on the Douro River, "Set sail to a good port." We think you'll enjoy it.
