Enjoying Port Wine
April 15, 2008
Wine is made from fermented grapes and is a form of an alcoholic beverage. These grapes often come from Europe while many other species and hybrids of grapes are also being used in wine industry. Many different types of wine have been created in this way. Most popular two wines are white and red. Both white and red wines are made from fermented white and red grapes respectively.
The Types of Port Wine
There is a wide variety of wines to choose from and out of all wines, the most popular wine is port wine. Port wine is a sweet wine that comes from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. After the grapes from this area are fully grown and pressed, they are then fortified with the addition of distilled grape spirits to boost the alcohol content as soon as the wine making process is fully complete. This wine is usually served as a dessert wine, and many different versions of port wine have been reproduced all over the world.
The Properties of Port Wine
Port wine possesses a much higher alcohol content than most other wines and is a very rich, very sweet, very heavy wine. This goes for all the different styles of port wine available. The higher alcohol content depends upon the process of aging, which is done either via reductive aging, or oxidative aging. Whenever wine is matured and aged in sealed tanks and there is no exposure to air then it is reductive aging. However, oxidative aging is when wines have matured in barrels with a small amount of exposure to oxygen.
Vintage Port Wine
Vintage port wine is truly Portugal’s flagship wine, and is not as popular of a selection as some of the other varieties of port wine. This wine is made entirely from grapes that come from a vintage year. Vintage Port Wine is much more expensive than many of the other port wines. Flavor of these wines is a lot more concrete and pungent that is really worth the extra bit of money. This wine is usually paired with desserts but one can determine personal preferences for this type of wine by also giving it a try with a variety of other sweet tasting foods as well.
Summary:
Thus Vintage Port Wine is a highly classic wine usually served as a desert wine, a bit expensive though but is a favorite because of its high alcohol content.
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