1 October: Port

The first week of October is National Port Week. 10 things you might not know about port:

1. Port is a fortified Wine (that is, wine which has had a distilled spirit added to it) produced in the Douro Valley of Portugal. Only fortified wine produced in this region can be sold as port.
2. In the 17th century, the import of French wine to Britain was restricted, which meant wine-making in Portugal flourished. The town of Porto became an important hub for wine merchants. By the 1850s, winemakers had discovered that fortifying wine by adding brandy resulted in a stronger, sweet flavour and Port wine as we know it was born.
3. The Douro wine region was created in 1756 by Marques de Pombal, a Portuguese politician and diplomat, making it the oldest wine region in the world. The Demarcated region of the Alto Douro is a by UNESCO World Heritage Site.
4. Another significant figure in the history of port production was a woman called D. Antónia Ferreirinha. Not only was she a determined entrepreneur who built an empire around her vineyards and introduced a number of innovations to improve production, she also took good care of her workers, even funding their children's education.
5. There are a number of different varieties of port, including: ruby port, the cheapest and most widely produced; tawny port, which is made from red Grapes and aged in barrels. The oxidation this causes turns the port a golden-brown colour and gives it a nutty flavour; white port, which is made from white grapes and is a popular drink with Tonic water in the region; rose port, a relatively recent variation, first released in 2008. It's fermented in a similar manner to a rosé wine, with a limited exposure to the grape skins, thus creating the rose colour; and Garrafeira, which will have been matured for several years, usually between three and six years, followed by at least a further eight years in glass, before bottling.
6. At one time, the only way to get to the Douro Wine Estates was by taking a boat up the river, and the only way to get the wine out was also by boat. Rabelo boats were created to survive the strong currents of the Douro river.
7. The soil in the region is made up of volcanic shale which has the property that it can store heat and moisture. During the summer shale stores heat by day, and at night, when the weather gets colder, the stone distributes heat through the soil. When it rains, the shale stores water and releases it later, so there is no need for irrigation systems.
8. Port is commonly served after meals as a dessert wine often with Cheese, nuts, and/or Chocolate; white and tawny ports are often served as an apéritif.
9. Port is best stored away from direct sunlight and at a cool, constant temperature. It’s advisable to store it on its side so that the cork is kept moist, and to decant before serving to get rid of the sediment.
10. Port has been viewed as a medicinal drink. In Anthony Trollope novels, ladies of a certain age are often portrayed drinking port for "medicinal purposes". In real life, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger drank a bottle of it a day from the age of 14, as a remedy for gout. Since drinking a lot of alcohol actually exacerbates gout, I suspect it didn't work very well!

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