Talk-A-Vino

This might be a first for me – I don’t think I ever posted twice in one day for more than 15 years this blog has been in existence. Well, there is always the first, right? And no, I’m not trying to compensate for the dismal amount of posts over the last year (well, maybe just a tiny bit, but please keep it a secret).

Earlier today, I wrote about the grape holidays for the year 2026, and the first thing that caught my attention was the grape holiday occurring today, January 27 – an International Port Day (interestingly enough, we also have a National Port Day, which is celebrated in September – and we don’t even live in Portugal, go figure).

Port is generally known as a fortified dessert wine. In a perfect world, Port should also be known as the wine produced in Portugal, similarly to Champagne, which can only be made in Champagne, France. However, Port is better known as a dessert wine category, and the name Port is widely used (abused?) by many producers, at least in the US (go to the wine-searcher and search for Zinfandel Port, for example). But let’s focus on the Port coming from its place of origin, Portugal.

Port is a sweet wine, usually having 17% – 22% ABV and 90 to 150 grams of sugar per liter of wine. Well-made Port is absolutely delicious, the same way as Sauternes, TBA Riesling, or an Ice Wine. The key to the sweet wine being delicious lies in the balance – as long as sugar is balanced with acidity, that’s all the wine lover needs to enjoy it.

Port used to be the wine of the kings, almost a liquid currency, produced in the Douro region in Portugal, the first demarcated wine region in the world (this tells you how important Port was). Here is one of my favorite pictures used over and over in this blog – just look at this beautiful Douro Valley:

And yet today, Port is reduced to a little corner in the wine stores, and sometimes the “by the glass” selection in the restaurants’ wine lists.

I don’t know why Port is not as popular as it should be. I’m sure that one factor is a “sugar shame” – we are trained to be ashamed to admit that we like something sweet, so many people would purposely avoid it. Another factor probably has to do with the complexity of the Port styles – there are just too many of them. Just as an illustration, here is a mind map I created for the post where I’m talking about all the different types of Port:

And even the picture above doesn’t cover all the corners – for example, age-designated tawny can be of 10, 20, 30, 40, over 40, and as of recent, even 50 years old. Oh, if you want explanations for this picture, you will find them in this post here.

As we are talking about celebrating Port, I have two particular memories I want to share. The first Port I was absolutely mesmerized by was Rozès Over 40 Years Old Porto – I had this wine about 15 years ago, and still, I can close my eyes and relive the magnificent encounter with this elixir – the beauty and complexity of the elegant, fragrant liquid. This wine was #2 on the inaugural Talk-a-Vino 2010 Top Wines List, and you can read more about that encounter here.

1970 White Port

The second most memorable Port experience was with the 1970 Quevedo White Port. We tasted this wine in the cellar of the Port producer Quevedo, directly from the barrel, as Oscar (the winemaker) didn’t know what he could do with the 43-year-old White Port. This 1970 Port became my wine #1 on the 2013 Top Wines list – you can also read about my tasting experience here.

I’m absolutely convinced that Port is the wine well worth celebrating, so happy International  Port Day to you!

What are your best Port encounters you remember? Don’t be shy, you know what to do…