SAVOURING THE SPIRIT OF PORTUGAL

Visit the Douro Valley, the only region in the world that can legally produce port wine 

-  SMITA TRIPATHI

The Douro River Valley, a meandering, terraced region that produces Portugal’s beloved port wine, is one of the country’s most charming areas. However, unlike the Rhine, Loire and numerous other major rivers in Europe, the Douro has never served as a strategic military site. And so, while driving through the winding roads, you are more likely to come across farms and sleepy villages rather than castles and stony ramparts. In fact, the only thing fortified here is the wine!

But why does wine need to be fortified? Call it a happy accident or necessity being the mother of all inventions, it was originally fortified to prevent it from getting ruined on its arduous journey across the ocean to England. In the late 1700s, it became increasingly common to add some brandy—essentially a young, clear neutral spirit distilled from wine—during fermentation. This stopped the process before all the natural sweetness of the grape juice was converted into alcohol. Since wine was no longer fermenting, it ensured it never spoiled. However, a happy result of that was that you got a sweet, distinct, flavourful wine which became all the rage in England. Since it was being shipped from the city of Porto, it came to be called port wine.

While there are 14 demarcated wine-producing regions in Portugal, the Douro Valley is the only one legally allowed to produce port wine—thanks to the Marquês de Pombal, who demarcated the region in 1756. Think of it a bit like the Champagne region of France.