Getting to Know more about the Douro Valley and Port Wine

The genuine Vinho do Porto or simply Port Wine comes from the Douro valley in northern Portugal.  It is a unique Portuguese fortified wine that has a sweeter and heavier taste with higher alcohol content among other red wines.  As such, it is preferred as an after-dinner dessert wine which also comes in white wine varieties. 

As the 10th largest wine producing country in the world, Portugal is blessed with the right climate that induces the abundant growth of various grape varieties from the northern Setubal regions that have given the world the famous Madeira and Muscatel wines to the new and exciting Alentejo wineries of the south. 
In between, you have the Minho regions that produce one of the world’s favorites in the Vinho Verde wines and the now protected World Heritage Site by UNESXO, the Douro that produces the country’s most noted wines, the Port Wines.
The Port Wine
The genuine Vinho do Porto or simply Port Wine comes from the Douro valley in northern Portugal.  It is a unique Portuguese fortified wine that has a sweeter and heavier taste with higher alcohol content among other red wines.  As such, it is preferred as an after-dinner dessert wine which also comes in white wine varieties. 
There are other fortified wines in the style of the Portuguese port produced in Australia, South Africa, Argentina and the US but only those coming from Portugal may be called Porto as per commercial guidelines from the EU Protected Designation of Origin.There are a number of port wines grown in the Douro region but are generally classified either as port aged in bottles but without aeration to induce reductive aging that lets the wine lose it colour and gain a smoother and less tannic taste, or those that matured in oak barrels whose organic wooden quality allows air to get through and induces oxidative aging that lets the wine lose color at a faster rate and evaporates more of the wine to leave it sweeter, thicker and more viscous.
There are other port wine varieties under each class.  Barrel aged ports can be tawny ports with golden brown color imparting a nutty flavor to the win and are the best variety used as dessert wines.  Rarer tawny ports are vintage ports called coleita and the garrafeira.   Bottle-aged ports, on the other hand, include the Ruby port, considered the cheapest and most widely made port wine
The Douro Valley
The Douro River is a major Iberian river that starts from the Soria province in Span and empties to the Atlantic through the Portuguese city of Porto.  Along the way, it passes through a valley to nourish its vast vineyards in the northern Portuguese region called the Douro Valley.  The valley is home to an abundance of almonds, olives and grape varietals that produce the Port wine.  
Its vineyards or quintas center in the upper Douro valley regions of Sao Jao da Pesqueira and Pinhao with the seaport City of Porto as the commercial hub ever since it started exporting to the England in 1679, hence, you get the name.  GP

Article Tags: Douro Valley, Port Wine

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