Photos of Douro.
The Port wine warehouses are located on the opposite bank in Porto Novo de Gaia as is a timber shipyard which we were interested to see.
Photo of wooden boat in construction using Portuguese pine (P. nigra)
Next we set off in search of a port warehouse, we had picked up a leaflet for Cockburn port which was offering a tour of the warehouse and tasting of two port wines for 3 Euros. Now, a sock is a 'sock', not a 'so' so why is Cockburn a 'co' rather than a 'cock'? Apparently some years ago there was an advert on telly involving some poor Russian sailor ... the more mature of you may remember. On the way we passed Churchill's port warehouse and thought we would give it a go, it was more about tasting very expensive port rather than visiting a load of barrels so we walked out. We walked up a long hill and then back down a steep cobbled lane and eventually made it to Cockburn's where the girl at the till convinced me (it didn't take much) to upgrade to the 20 Euros tasting (for 6 different ports) on the basis that Franco and I could share.
A quick whizz round the warehouse which involved big barrels, small barrels, large vats and we emerged into the tasting parlour.
Port casks
Surprisingly we were the only ones who had bought the deluxe tasting which turned out to be excellent value for money. We were also the only ones who were given a complementary glass of water (after our first sip!). The results don't need describing.
Franco before
Franco afterwards
The tour was thoroughly enjoyable and we learnt a great deal about port and our tastes.
Ruby ports are matured in very large vats so have little contact with the sides of the vat. The cheaper ones are filtered and bottled and will not mature further. The best ports are not filtered so will continue to age in the bottle, once the bottle is opened they need to be decanted and drunk within two days. The port regulator allows producers to designate three 'vintage' years per decade and this massively increases the price.
Tawny ports are matured in oak barrels which are much smaller than the vats, they have had more contact with the sides of the barrel and have more tannins and oxidation than ruby ports. They are sold as 'aged 10 years', 'aged 20 years', etc. These are a blend of several different years around the target age, so an 'aged 10 years' could be a mixture of 5 year old port with 14 year old port.
Once a bottle of port is opened, it should be kept in the fridge.
We tried:
Special Reserve £12, 2 years old ruby, very sweet - I liked it, too sweet for Franco.
Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) £13, 2007 ruby - our favourite, given our inability to finish a bottle of port in two days (without Tony Ferrero's help).
'Aged 10 years' tawny port £19, not nice - the taste that makes me dislike port.
'Aged 20 years' tawny port £40, worth the difference in price! - but we prefer ruby port.
Quinta dos Canais £36, 2007, ruby, will continue to age in the bottle - very nice indeed but can we finish the bottle in 2 days?
Vintage Port 2007 £90, 2007, ruby, will continue to age in the bottle - tasted the same to me as the previous port but Franco a.k.a Mr Fine Palate assures me it was superior. DEFINITELY cannot afford it though it was interesting to try it.
The next two hours are a bit of a blur except I nearly ordered us enough food for a small army, lucky for me our waiter had Alzheimer's lite (or is passionately in love) and forgot our main meal. We heaved a sigh of relief when they cleared our plates away after the gigantic starter. We were sat at a terrace next to a 'Cais do Fado' stage and dined in music. The Fado was very pleasant and not anything like the samples we had listened to on the internet (no cat wailing!).
Photo of Rita Ruivo Fado
Kath
