THE HISTORY OF PORT WINE

PORT, ONE OF EUROPE'S GREAT CLASSIC WINES

Produced on the steep hillside vineyards of the upper Douro valley, this wine originates from one of world's oldest and most beautiful wine regions where vines have been grown for over 2000 years...! (...)

photo: Goncalo Villaverde

THE HISTORY OF THE DEMARCATED PORT WINE REGION

 This wine owes its distinctive character to a unique combination of climate, schist-filled soils , grape varieties and wine making traditions found only in the Douro. Only wines made in a specific area of the valley may call themselves Port.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

  In 1756, the Douro became the 1st wine region to be defined and regulated by law (98 years before Bourdeaux!!) and in 1757 every single Port vineyard was classified according to the quality of its wine. This visionary program was the creation of Portugal's illustrious prime minister, the Marquis de Pombal, whose many achievements include the rebuilding of the city of Lisbon after the devastating earthquake of 1755.

 Pombal effectively made Port the worlds first DOC wine (denominacao de origem controlada/ appellation de origin controlee AOC ) and, to this day, Port is subjected to the most rigorous and sophisticated quality controls.

  The boundaries of the Port producing region were carefully marked out with 335 granite pillars called marcos da Feitoria or marcos pombalinos.

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 The oldest vineyards are planted on hundreds of hand built walled terraces, clinging to the steep hillsides of the valley. 

Old photos of past harvests and the transport of casks, via Douro river, in the small and unsafe Rabelos down to Porto.

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  Even though wine has been produced since Roman times for more than 2000 years in the Douro valley, Port wine is much more recent. The first shipments of wine under the name of Port were only recorded in 1678. 

The Douro valley is Port's birthplace but Port takes its name from the city of Porto (or Oporto), the port city from where it has historically been shipped from.

In fact, you can only see vineyards 70kms upriver from Porto, which then will be the main item in the landscape all the way to the border with Spain, 209kms from Douro's river mouth.​

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 These old terraces of the Douro valley are classified as World Heritage and form one of the most spectacular man made landscapes.

PORT: AN ENGLISH HERITAGE

The Portuguese name Vinho do Porto, “wine of Porto" became Port.  Many of the original Port houses such as Taylors and Croft were founded by English merchant families, some established in Portugal for many many years.

To start with, wine was not an important part of their business, but in the second half of the 17th century they were given an historic opportunity: in 1667, Colbert, 1st minister of Louis XIV of France, introduced heavy restrictions on the import of English goods. In return, Charles II of England, prohibited the import of french wines, forcing the English wine trade to look elsewhere for its supplies.  The English merchants based in Portugal were quick to take advantage of the situation.

   A painting that depicts English merchants meeting outside the 'Feitoria Inglesa' (Factory house), downtown Porto, in the early 1800's.

They soon discovered that the thin wines of the coast were not to the liking of the English consumer. The strong and powerful wines were to be found inland, in the remote and mountainous vineyards of the upper Douro valley, behind the Marão mountain range.

The founders of the first Port companies were among the first to make this journey to the Douro and established themselves there, allowing them first choice of the finest wines and best wine producing estates.

Thousands of oak barrels containing Port are still kept in the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia.

For the next 100 years, Britain remained the most important market for Port but in the 19th century the taste for the magnificent wine of the Douro spread to other markets such as Scandinavia, Russia, Brasil and the United States.

THERE'S MORE TO THE DOURO VALLEY THAN JUST PORT.

  Today, the table wine and also the olive oil from the Douro and Trás-os-Montes estates make up a good share of the total exports of these two northern areas of Portugal.

Also tourism, and in particular wine tourism, now plays an important role in the economy of the region. The Douro valley is this 'giant winery' that is still largely unknown to most of the world.

A simple, fun way to learn more or even have a taste of Port is to participate in a running tour in the city of Porto.

With curious active people in mind, we provide the city British Heritage themed running tour or can even arrange for a group bespoke tour (including any special requests and a wine tasting after the run :))  Cheers!

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