Port comes from the country of Portugal, and it is a popular belief that it was the British who were responsible for Port, however, this is not entirely true.  We can thank the Portuguese for inventing this most classic of fortified wines; the English merely capitalised on their original idea.  In 1678, two Englishmen were sent by a Liverpool wine merchant to Viana do Castello, North of Oporto, to learn the wine business.  Vacationing up the Douro river, they were entertained by the Abbot of Lamego.  Finding his wine ‘very agreeable, sweetish and extremely smooth’, they asked what made it exceptional among all others tasted on their journey.  The Abbot confessed to doctoring the wine with Brandy, but the Englishmen were so pleased with the result this had that they purchased the entire stock and shipped it home.

The orgin of the Port trade
The ancient house of C.N. Kopke and Co. had been trading in Douro wines for nearly 40 years by the time the above encounter took place.  8 years before they stumbled upon the Abbot of Lamego, another Englishman named John Clark was busy building up a business that would become known as Warre and Co.  In 1678, the same year as the encounter, Croft and Co. was established, and this was followed by Quarles Harris in 1680 and Tailor’s in 1692.  By the time the Mathuen Treaty of 1703 gave Portuguese wines preferential rates of duty in Britain, many British firms had set up business in Oporto.  Firms of other nationalities – Dutch, German, and French – followed, but it was the British shippers who virtually monopolised the trade.

In 1755, the Marquis of Pombal, who had assumed almost dictatorial over Portugal some 5 years before, put a curb on their activities through the Board of Trade.  The privileges enjoyed by British merchants under two 100 year old treaties were restricted.  He also established the Oporto Wine Company, endowing it with the sort of powers to which the British had been accustomed.  This infuriated the British, but their protests were to no avail and Pombal went on to instigate many worthy, if unpopular, reforms, including limiting the Douro’s production area to the finest vineyards, the banning of elderberries for colouring the wine, and the outlawing of manure, which reduced yields but greatly improved quality.

Krohn colheita 1995 tawny port
This type of Port is known as a COLHEITA Port and is identified by its distinct aristocratic quality, making it a precious rarity only possible in outstanding years when the climate conditions are exceptionally favorable. This wine enjoys the privilege afforded by the Port Wine Institute to bear on its label the date and the title COLHEITA.  Ripe raisins, sultanas and plums merge together with soft, nutty, oaky sweet tannins to provide a complex and distinctive Port of high quality.  The perfect accompaniment to the after dinner cheese board.  You can also try it with chocolate!  PRICE: £19.40.