Port Wine….I Didn’t Know What I Was Missing!!!

I’ve always loved Wine but shunned Port Wine.

I’ve always loved a dry full bodied wine!  That’s just my taste in wine, and expensive champagne.  Most people think I’m just a beer guy with Margaritas and Bloody Mary’s on the side.

I must be totally honest.  I love Port Wines.  Gosh, I can’t get enough!!!

I even got a tad bit of an education which I’ll share in its briefness shortly..

My only incurrance with Port Wines before coming to Porto, Portugal was with Mogen David Port Wines.  That for me was a headache in a bottle and probably where my disdain for sweet wines originates.  This was like a holiday staple in our family and I think other families too from my holiday visits.  Too sweet too easy to consume unbridled.  It just didn’t work for me.  It also might have something to do with all that sweet Strawberry Hill consumption at a young age.  A real laugher thinking back.  Young wine conosiuer.

I was intrigued. Friends in France, UK, and Portugal bragged about port wines! Port wines find their home in Porto, Portugal and since I was nearby, I thought….’I gotta go there and try some port wines’!



So, I did!

And I loved it!  Even braving the cheaper range I found them to be a flavorable surpise.

  A glass of Tawny Port Wine with my Bar B Que (that’s what they called it and that’s how it’s served….I was warned!).

Meatless is better….

That was a glass of wine that was absolutely fabulous!  I could have most definetly done without the Bar B Que honestly.  I’m a former meatless eater, and I liked being that way.  But, I ran into a health problem that I couldn’t resolve, the iron in my blood had depleted to a point that it affected my daily activities and nightly ones as well.  You may think that a supplement would have rectified the problem but that wasn’t the case, I became ill taking the iron supplements.  But, now that I’m healthy and not really attracted to the meatful lifestyle, I’m contemplating and planning a meatless lifestyle again.

Types of Port Wines

Here is a quick glimpse of port wines.

White Port.  This is a non-traditional port wine made with white grapes.  I didn’t know that a white port wine existed much less it being non-traditional!  It’s considered an ‘apertif’ served slightly chilled and comes sweet or dry.  While I love a dry wine, I’ve yet to meet a white dry wine that I’ve been interested in and that holds true with the ports I sampled.

Tawny Port.  This wine is tempered by aging in an oak barrel.  I didn’t mind this one but I do understand from my sampling (and drinking) why it needs to be tempered.

Ruby Port.  This is the standard port wine and also the cheapest.  But, my samplings (and subsequent drinking) lead me up the price and quality ladder to some of the best wine I’ve thus far encountered…port wine that is.

Vintage Port.  This one wasn’t included in my wine tasting settings….not by my choice but rather because it wasn’t presented and I had no knowledge of it’s existance.  The vintage port is the top-of-the-line.  It is aged 2 to 3 years in a barrel then poured into a bottle unfiltered and aged several more years for its unique and complicated flavor.

Here was my line-up!

  Not too shabby.  This cost 5 Euros, about $5.60 in U.S. currency.

Port wine….I’m a fan!

Honestly, i must admit that I could’ve done this again.  This is the only 5 that this particular wine bar made available.  Makes since from a business point of view.  I bought the Ruby Port, second from the left.

Time to be afoot!  Lots to do, and places to go!



Peace, love, and beaches,

John

The post Port Wine….I Didn’t Know What I Was Missing!!! appeared first on Peace, Love, & Beaches.