Port wine, or simply port, is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, often served with dessert, although it also comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties.
Château d'Yquem is a Premier Cru Supérieur wine from the Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the Bordeaux vineyards known as Graves. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Château d'Yquem was the only Sauternes given this rating, indicating its perceived superiority and higher prices over all other wines of its type. Yquem's success stems largely from the site's susceptibility to attack by "noble rot".
Touriga Nacional is a variety of red wine grape, considered by many to be Portugal's finest. Despite the low yields from its small grapes, it plays a big part in the blends used for ports, and is increasingly being used for table wine in the Douro and Dão. Touriga Nacional provides structure and body to wine, with high tannins and concentrated flavors of black fruit. Jancis Robinson has compared its relationship with Touriga Francesa to the partnership between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the former providing structure, the latter filling out the bouquet.
Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the Romans and other ancient Mediterranean peoples who traded with local coastal populations, mainly in the South. In pre-Roman Gallaecia-Lusitania times, the native peoples only drank beer and were unfamiliar with wine production. Portugal started to export its wines to Rome during the Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the Methuen Treaty in 1703. From this commerce a wide variety of wines started to be grown in Portugal. In 1758, one of the first wine-producing regions of the world, the Região Demarcada do Douro was created under the orientation of Marquis of Pombal, in the Douro Valley. Portugal has two wine-producing regions protected by UNESCO as World Heritage: the Douro Valley Wine Region and Pico Island Wine Region. Portugal has a big variety of local kinds, producing a very wide variety of different wines with distinctive personality.
Douro is a Portuguese wine region centered on the Douro River in the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region. It is sometimes referred to as the Alto Douro, as it is located some distance upstream from Porto, sheltered by mountain ranges from coastal influence. The region has Portugal's highest wine classification as a Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) and is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin under EU and UK law, and as a Geographical Indication in several other countries through bilateral agreements. While the region is best known for Port wine production, the Douro produces just as much table wine as it does fortified wine. The non-fortified wines are typically referred to as "Douro wines".
Château Lascombes is a winery in the Margaux appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen Seconds Crus in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. In the 1950s, the estate was purchased by French wine writer Alexis Lichine who continued to own part of the estate till 1971 when Bass Charrington took over principal ownership. In 2001 it was purchased by Yves Vatelot and US-based Colony Capital, who in 2011 sold it to the French insurance group MACSF. In addition to its premier cuvee, a second wine is also produced, under the name Chevalier de Lascombes. Additional brands are Château Segonnes, Rosé de Lascombes, Vin Sec Chevalier de Lascombes and Gombaud.
South African wine has a history dating back to 1659 with the first bottle being produced in Cape Town by its founder and governor Jan van Riebeeck. Access to international markets led to new investment in the South African wine market. Production is concentrated around Cape Town and almost exclusively located within the Western Cape province, with major vineyard and production centres at Constantia, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester.
Château Cantemerle is a winery in the Haut-Médoc appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France, in the commune of Macau. The wine produced here was the final estate to be classified as one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Its absence from the classification map featured at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris created some controversy, even though it has been listed on all maps published after 1855. Some sources will include an asterisk next to Château Cantemerle listing in reference to this controversy. The estate has a long history in the Haut-Médoc with records detailing its existence since at least the 12th century and wine production since at least the 14th century. In the 19th century, the estate was hard hit by the phylloxera epidemic as well as grapevine attacks of downy mildew, after which production dropped nearly 50%. Towards the end of the 20th century, the estate was sold to French insurance group Les Mutuelles d'Assurance du Bâtiment et des Travaux Public who have contributed significant investment in the estate's vineyards and winemaking facilities.
The Loire Valley wine region includes the French wine regions situated along the river Loire from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of Orléans in north central France. In between are the regions of Anjou wine, Saumur, Bourgueil, Chinon, and Vouvray. The Loire Valley itself follows the river through the Loire department to the river's origins in the Cévennes but the majority of the wine production takes place in the regions noted above. The area includes 87 appellations under the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) systems. While the majority of production is white wine from the Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc and Melon de Bourgogne grapes, there are red wines made from Cabernet franc. In addition to still wines, rosé, sparkling and dessert wines are also produced. With Crémant production throughout the Loire, it is the second largest sparkling wine producer in France after Champagne. Among these different wine styles, Loire wines tend to exhibit characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavors-especially in their youth. The Loire Valley has a long history of winemaking dating back to the 1st century. In the High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux.
Château Pape Clément is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, ranked among the Crus Classés for red wine in the Classification of Graves wine of 1959. It is the oldest wine estate in Bordeaux, harvesting its 700th vintage in 2006. The winery and vineyards are located in the commune of Pessac, south-west of the city of Bordeaux. When the estate was omitted from the initial Graves classification of 1953 it caused some controversy.
Carcavelos is a Portuguese wine region centered on the Carcavelos municipality in Estremadura region and includes land near the cities of Cascais and Oeiras. The region has Portugal's highest wine classification as a Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC). Located at the very southern tip of the Estremadura region, the region has a long winemaking history dating back to the 18th century when Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal owned vineyards here. The region is known for its fortified wine production, creating off dry, topaz colored wines that have nutty aromas and flavors. While once a thriving wine region, world-renowned in the 19th century for its tawny colored fortified wine, in the modern era Carcavelos has been devastated by real estate development in the suburbs of the capital city of Lisbon and nearby coastal city of Estoril.
The classification of Champagne vineyards developed in the mid-20th century as a means of setting the price of grapes grown through the villages of the Champagne wine region. Unlike the classification of Bordeaux wine estates or Burgundy Grand cru vineyards, the classification of Champagne is broken down based on what village the vineyards are located in. A percentile system known as the Échelle des Crus acts as a pro-rata system for determining grape prices. Vineyards located in villages with high rates will receive higher prices for their grapes than vineyards located in villages with a lower rating. While the Échelle des Crus system was originally conceived as a 1-100 point scale, in practice, the lowest rated villages are rated at 80%. Premier crus villages are rated between 90 and 99 percent while the highest rated villages, with 100% ratings are Grand crus.
Domaine de Bargylus is a wine estate on the slopes of the Coastal Mountain Range in Syria. These mountains, known as Mount Bargylus in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, produced notable wines up until the rise of Islam. Domaine de Bargylus is managed by two brothers Karim and Sandro Saadé, with the assistance of renowned consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt. It has been cited by wine critic Jancis Robinson as "arguably the finest wine of the Eastern Mediterranean".
The Douro Wine Company was a government oversight organization established by the Portuguese Prime Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal to regulate the trade and production of Port wine. Established in 1756, one of the first official duties of the company was the delineation of the boundaries of the Douro wine region. This act essentially made the Douro the world's first regional appellation. While the boundaries of the Chianti and Tokaji wine regions were outlined in 1716 and 1737, respectively, neither of these regions were "technically" appellations in the sense of being subjected to continued government control and regulations. Under their charter, Pombal invested an immense amount of control in the Douro Wine Company to regulate all exports of Port, set production quantities limits, fix maximum and minimum prices for grapes and to serve as sole arbitrator in any disputes between vine growers and Port shippers. In 1761, the company was further granted a monopoly on the sale of brandy which was used in the fortification process of Port winemaking. The Douro Wine Company continued to operate to 1833. Today, many of it functions have been deregulated with the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto or being the official regulating body of Port wine and Douro table wine production.
The Quinta classification of Port vineyards in the Douro is a system that grades the terroir and quality potential of vineyards in the Douro wine region to produce grapes suitable for the production of Port wine. In Portuguese, a quinta is a wine producing estate, which can be a winery or a vineyard. While other wine classification systems may classify the winery, the Douro quinta classification is based upon the physical characteristics of the vineyard. The classification system is run by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP) and shares some similarities to the classification of Champagne vineyards in that one of the purposes of the system is to ensure that vineyards producing grapes with the highest quality potential receive a high price. A secondary function of the quinta classification is the establishment of permitted yields for production. Quintas with a higher classification are permitted to harvest more grapes than a vineyard that received a lower classification.
Symington Family Estates is a wine company and Port wine house in Portugal, which owns and operates several vineyards and wineries and owns several brands of Port, Madeira wine and Douro DOC wines, including some of the oldest and most well-known Port and Madeira brands. With their extensive vineyard holdings and many Port brands, the Symingtons are often described as being a "Port empire".
Fonseca Guimaraens, often simply called Fonseca, is one of the largest Port wine houses in Portugal. Manoel Pedro Gonçalves Guimaraens and his brother João Gonçalves Salgueiro, established the company in 1822 when they acquired control of the Fonseca and Monteiro Company from the Fonseca Family by purchase of the majority of Fonseca owned shares. A condition of the sale of Fonseca's shares was that the name Fonseca remain as the brand name. David Guimaraens, the great-great-great grandson of the founder Manuel Pedro, has been the head winemaker since 1994, and oversees the winemaking and blending for all four Taylor Fladgate Port houses: Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca Guimaraens, Croft, and Delaforce.
Giacomo Conterno is an Italian wine producer from the Piemonte region in the district of Langhe. From a winery located in Monforte d'Alba, the Barolo and Barbera wines are made by traditionalist methods and are widely considered among the finest produced in the Barolo zone.
Vital is a white Portuguese wine grape variety that is grown primarily in Western Portugal. Sometimes known under the synonym Malvasia Corado, the variety tends to produce rather neutral flavor wine with low acidity unless the grape is grown in vineyards of high altitude.
W. & J. Graham's, or simply Graham's, is a producer of port wine. It is one of the most important of the port names and it is necessary for Graham's to declare a vintage for the year to be considered vintage by the port industry. Founded in 1820 as a consequence of the Graham family firm receiving a load of Portuguese wine as payment for a debt, the Graham's port business continues to operate today under the ownership of the Symington Family Estates who purchased the brand in 1970. As well as vintage port, Graham's produces a range of wines, including Six Grapes, a reserve port, Quinta dos Malvedos, named after the estate purchased by the company in 1890, and various single harvest ports, including the 1882 Ne Oublie Tawny, named after the Graham family motto and at the time one of the most expensive wines for sale. The company received a Royal Warrant in 2015.
