1953 The U K B G Guide to Drinks

PORT

This is the name given to the fortified wines produced in the neighbourhood of the valley of the River Douro from a point near Barca D'Alva on the borders of Spain to a point about 50 miles from Oporto, the port through which the wines are shipped. This river flows through steep mountainous banks upon which the vineyards are situated, they being built up on terraces to prevent the soil being washed away by the heavy rains of the district. The area is up to 20-40 miles wide in places, and is divided into the Upper and Lower Corgo regions. The town of Oporto gets its name from "Porto ", meaning"harbour ",and"0"meaning"the ". Opposite the town of Oporto is situated the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, where the Port Wine Shippershave their Lodges or warehouses, where their large stocks of wine are stored. Of the history of the wine,it is said that some Portuguese fishermen who were fishing off the coast of England first landed wine from this area into England,but this is reputed to have been a table wine which at that time was grown in a place a httle to the north of the present boundaries, and was not the Port Wine as we know it to-day. The origin of it is said to have been due to the two_ sons of a British wine merchant who while hoUdaying in Oporto added some brandy to the local wine and took a hking to it. A notable date in the history of Port Wine was December, 1703, when the Methuen Treaty was signed; this allowed Port Wine to be imported into England at the expense of the French, whose wines bore a heavier rate of duty. After many upheavals over the years between the shippers and the growers, the Portuguese Government took over control of the industry in 1932, and now three government bodies look after the interests of the trade. These are the Casa do Douro, who look after the growing and the making of the wine; the Gremio dos Exportadores or Port Wine Shippers Guild ; and the Institute do Vinho do Porto, 205