Port's Revival

While fortified wine is now on your bartender’s ingredients list, it’s best enjoyed sipped on its own. Thankfully, there are plenty of good options...

Welcome, port, back into the spotlight after so long a sojourn in the shadows. While the fortified wine hailing from Portugal’s Douro Valley is appearing as a trendy ingredient at cocktail bars, the best stuff is meant for sipping. So while port may be “new” once more, let’s be thankful that some exceedingly old stock has survived long enough for its current revival, offering a perfect opportunity to begin exploring.

“Port has an amazing array of nuances,” says Cristiano van Zeller, whose family has been in the trade since 1620. His company, Van Zellers & Co., sourced the casks for what would become the Centenario Port Duo, 1870 and 1970, for the Last Drop Distillers. The duo consists of two choice colheitas, or single-harvest tawny ports, from the same cellar along the Douro River.