| I had a friend in college whose life's goal was to | | | | With Port wine, after fermentation begins, timing |
| move to France, don a beret, stomp on grapes, | | | | takes over. Once half of the grape's sugar has |
| and make wine for a living. Though I tried to tell | | | | been converted, fermentation must be stopped. |
| her that there was more to wine-making than | | | | In order to do this, the wine is mixed with clear |
| purple feet, and that berets were so "Clinton | | | | brandy (a strong alcoholic spirit distilled from wine) |
| Administration," she ignored me and dreamt of | | | | containing a proof of 150. The alcohol in the |
| grapes anyway. Though I did not share her | | | | brandy kills the yeast in the wine, causing |
| winemaking aspirations and decided instead to | | | | fermentation to cease. The ending result is a |
| dream of something much more realistic, like a | | | | sweet wine that is about 20 percent alcohol. It is |
| marriage proposal from Brad Pitt, she did get me | | | | typically served with desserts, cheese, and, of |
| thinking about the process, and she got me | | | | course, desserts made of cheese. |
| thirsty for knowledge. This eventually led me to | | | | Though there are many styles of Port - White |
| discover different types of wine require different | | | | Port, Ruby Port, Young Tawny Port, Aged Tawny |
| recipes, with one of the most complex belonging | | | | Port, Vintage Character Port, Late Bottled Vintage |
| to Port. | | | | Port, Traditional Late Bottled Vintage Port, Vintage |
| Prior to actually reading about making Port, I was | | | | Port, Single Quinta Vintage Port, Crusted Port, and |
| under the impression that all it involved was | | | | Garrafeira Port - most styles fall into two broad |
| people stepping on grapes in bare feet. Because | | | | categories: Bottle aged or Cask aged. Because |
| of this, I often worried that I would be drinking | | | | doing the tiniest thing different will result in a |
| Tinta Barroca, and find floating in my glass a | | | | different taste of wine, the two Port processes |
| human toenail or perhaps a foot corn. But, in | | | | greatly dictate the flavorful outcome. While Bottle |
| truth, port-making is a lengthy, complicated | | | | aged Ports generally behave like wine on Botox, |
| process. | | | | keeping their color and their fruitiness well into |
| Port wine, also known as Vinho do Porto, Porto, | | | | maturity, Cask aged Ports lose flavor quickly. |
| or Porto wine, is a fortified wine that comes from | | | | They are ready to drink right away. |
| the Douro Valley in the northern lands of Portugal. | | | | The best Ports to know, the ones to introduce |
| Produced in Portugal since the mid 15th Century, | | | | yourself to before sending them down your |
| Port gained popularity in England after the | | | | esophagus, are the Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port, |
| Methuen Treaty of 1703. While this treaty did | | | | W. & J. Graham's Tawny Port, Smith Woodhouse |
| war-related things reserved for history books, in | | | | Vintage Character Port, Niepoort Vintage Port, |
| regards to wine it caused England to become an | | | | Quinta do Infantado Single Quinta Vintage Port, |
| adopted family for Port, with Portugal being the | | | | and Adriano Ramos-Pinto Late Bottled Vintage |
| biological parents. | | | | Port. |
| There is no easy way to make Port: no kind | | | | As demonstrated, the process of making Port is |
| comes in a packet with "just add water" | | | | not as simple as one might imagine; it involves a |
| instructions. Instead, the process initially involves | | | | little more than simply visiting a vineyard, and |
| picking grapes, smashing them, and then placing | | | | being met with thousands of grapes shouting, |
| them in an automated tank where they are | | | | "Pick me! Pick me!" And, it involves more than |
| further chopped into tiny pieces. After remaining | | | | taking off your tennis shoes and having a |
| in this tank for nearly twenty-four hours, the | | | | smashing good time. After a careful, lengthy |
| grapes begin to ferment and their sugar climbs | | | | process, the smashing good time will follow. |
| the food chain, turning into alcohol. | | | | |