Royal Oporto Dry White Port

  Pre-September 2007, all I knew of Portugal as a country was Albufeira's Strip and Clube Praia da Oura, now don't get me wrong I had long moved on from J.P. and Mateus Rose but it had never been a wine destination that I was longing to experience. The range of Portugese wines in Ireland had been quite limited until Kevin O'Hara started up his importing business, Grace Campbell, in 2003 after spending much of his summer holidays golfing there and seeing a  gap in the Irish wine market. Kevin introduced me to some serious Portugese wines with the whites in particular surprising me. He invited myself and 4 others from the on and off-trade in Ireland to join him in visiting some of these wineries.
 I think what shocked me mainly was just how stunningly beautiful this country was but also just how much Port a group of  6 could actually put away! There is nothing quite like a port hangover...

We flew into Oporto and were brought straight to Real Comapnhia Velha HQ where we were given an amazing lunch starting with Queijo da Serra cheese which is a runny cheese made from sheeps milk served with bread sticks, Jamon and olives. After the early start, travel and heat of the sun a glass of chilled white port went down a treat and it was served with ice-cubes made from orange juice which was delicious and refreshing. Their white port is made from traditional portugese grape varieties such as Donzelinho and Malvasia Fina and aged for 3 years in oak. It is made in the same way as regular port but fermentation is allowed to go on for longer before it is fortified with aguardiente ( similar to brandy). White port is usually drunk as an aperitif and served with almonds which complements it beautifully.  A beautful light amber/gold colour with a complex nose of nuts, peaches and herbs coming through. This is bone dry in the mouth with peachy flavours and the orange ice-cubes worked beautifully with it as did a handful of almonds.

 The tradition of adding grape spirit to Douro wines was in fact stumbled upon while trying to preserve these wines on long sea journeys however merchants soon realised that it improved the flavour of the then poor quality wines coming from Portugal. Due to poor quality and greed of winemakers in 1756 laws were put in place to protect the vines and production methods hence making the Port wine region the oldest wine region in the world to have boundaries set. It was Royal oporto itself that were put in charge of implementing these limitations by the King D. Jose.
 After a serious dinner and a little too much appreciation for Portugese wines none of us felt too superb the next morning as we set out for the Douro Valley. Despite the zig-zagging drive and the self-inflicted dodgy stomachs when we came around the bend and looked down on the valley for the first time I think we all let out a gasp. With the river Douro meandering slowly through the valley and the steep mountains covered in row upon row of vines running right down to the banks; it was serious picture-postcard stuff and a far cry from Praia da Rocha! Dotted along these hills were all the famous Port producers names laying claim to their vineyards; Cockburns, Taylors etc.

 We stayed one more night in Douro and managed to consume ridiculous amounts of Tawny port and food before waddling back onto the plane the next morning but it is a place that I will definitely get back to and the wines now have a secret place in my heart as with all these wine trips when you meet the people and see the passion for what they do, it is difficult for this not too rub off on you even when you are back on the dreary Naas Road trying to describe the joys of  chilled white port with some orange rind (for when the ice cubes seem a little OTT)


Royal Oporto Dry White Port €17.99  - try it one of these sunny evenings out back chilled with a shaving of orange and some almonds as you are waiting for the BBQ to heat up, you won't  be disappointed!

Till Next time

Clare
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