The word: port

[Roy Hersh]

I am always baffled by the variety of ways that the word is written, when spoken about in generic terms revolving around our favorite drink.

So should it be capitalized, as in Port? I typically see Sherry is always capitalized when generally discussed in articles, yet often times, port isn't. Of course I don't even want to get into the use of Porto, so let's just stick to general use of Port vs. port ... when discussing the fortified wine from the Douro. Which do you believe is correct, and why?

[Derek T.]

I think it should be capitalised because it is a noun which is the name of a specific type of wine.

I tend to use Port to describe the real stuff and port to describe imposters.

[Frederick Blais]

It is indeed misleading and I often write it in both ways ....

I think that the correct way is to write port with no capital letter when we do talk about it in a general way. When we use it as a category or with a brand we do put a capital letter : Tawny Port, Graham's Port.

[Andy Velebil]

I think it's best to use the capital "P" when refering to Port.

On rare occassions, when I'm just to lazy, I forget and use the lower case.

[Glenn E.]

I think it should be capitalised because it is a noun which is the name of a specific type of wine.

I tend to use Port to describe the real stuff and port to describe imposters.

:stupid:

It's the types that confuse me - do you capitalize Tawny and Ruby?

[Todd Pettinger]

Wow, getting down to the semantics of the word Port. (Note the capital P!)

I firmly believe that Port is from Portugal. Rather than writing (or typing) "port-style fortified wine" I typically use small-p port to denote Aussie, American, Canuck and other types of wine that claim to be "port."

When I slip up on the Forum and use small-p port to describe Port, it is simply laziness and poor typing skills... Had I an editor for my web/forum postings, he/she would catch that and correct. But typically I type too fast, too erratically (I failed Typing class two semesters in a row in high school despite being able to type faster and with greater accuracy than my instructor, but because I don't use "home base" or even the majority of the digits on my left hand (index finger and thumb only!) and cross my hands when typing certain words and phrases) I screw up often. Believe me, it is almost appalling watching how poor my typing skills are. And yet I can pound out 100+ WPM with 90% or greater accuracy.

Speel-check [purposely 'spelt' wrong - I know my College English prof would be SPINNING at the moment which makes me insanely delighted! :devil: :twisted: :twisted: :devil: ] is a wonderful thing.

Todd

[Jan-Tore Egge]

I tend to use lower case, but then I prefer that for the names of grape varieties, too. At least when I write in Norwegian. When writing in English, I guess I tend to use more capitals, albeit a bit reluctantly.

[Roy Hersh]

I guess it all boils down to whether you consider the word to be a proper pronoun.

It is fascinating to see how many journalists who should know better, use an uncapitalized "p" when writing about Port, yet they'd probably think that my use of "P" in Port, always when writing about the Portuguese version, is either obsessive or redundant.

[Jan-Tore Egge]

There is a difference in sensitivities between speakers (and writers) of different languages. In Norwegian, we don't use capitals for nationalities (or days of the week, for that matter). We also tend to write the equivalent of "burgundy" for the wine and "Burgundy" for the area. I agree many of these things should be in capitals in English, though.

[Al B.]

My view is that the fortified red wine which comes from the Douro region is correctly written as Port. It is a proper pronoun in that it designates something unique. On the other hand, when you refer to a fortified red wine which is made in the same way but is generic in that it does not come from the same region, then this is port - as a convenient contraction of Port-style wine.

The question of how to write the styles of port is a very interesting one. I guess it depends on whether you are referring to the noun (eg. Tawny Port) or whether you are using it as an adjective to describe a style or general kind of wine (tawny Port - or even tawny port, depending on where it comes from).

So, in summary, whatever you write is correct!

[Eric Menchen]

I think I usually write port, just as I sometimes drink champagne (from Champagne, not from anywhere else which would just be white sparkling wine). Of course these cases are a slightly different because of the porto thing, but Roy didn't want us to go there.

[Roy Hersh]

Glenn asked:
It's the types that confuse me - do you capitalize Tawny and Ruby?

I use a capital T and R when specifically mentioning Tawny Port or a Ruby Port in a sentence. But I won't capitalize either if speaking generically, "it shows a tawny color." Or ... "it was a pretty cheap ruby but not one worth buying."

With the word "Port" directly after either one and I always capitalize 'em both.

[Timothy B.]

I tend to use Port to describe the real stuff and port to describe imposters.

That remark struck me partly because I'm reading Judgment of Paris. (I've just gotten to the point where the wines have arrived in France.) One of the long term effects of this event is changing the map of the wine world; it's no longer "France rules the world" when it comes to wine.

Also, I recently read this on blog post by a California wine-maker talking about getting a label approved by the TTB:

A good example is our fortified wine we call Forté. It is a fortified wine made just like you would make Port in Portugal from all Portuguese varieties. As a European trained wine maker I will not use European place names on our wines. So we call the wine “Forté” rather than Port. In 2004 when I first obtained label approval for this wine the back label said “A California Port Style Wine.” This time the term “A California Port Style Wine” was rejected. They said I had to use “Red Table Wine”. I said, “It is not red table wine, it is a fortified wine”. They said I could not use the word fortified on a wine label so therefore had to use “Red Table Wine” I pointed out to them that that would be lying to the consumer. They didn’t seem to care, stating that was the regulation.

I suppose it or a Madeira-style wine could be labeled as a dessert wine, but what happens when the time comes that the best wines of these types are made in other parts of the world? E.g. when the island of Madeira is completely given over to tourism, and they out-source their wine production to New Zealand or somesuch. Do we lose the terms entirely and just have dessert wine?

-- T

[Andy Velebil]

Darn good question and I don't know if I have the answer. I know the powers that be have been cracking down on what can be used on a label to describe whats in the bottle. While there always will be cases such as this, it's important that the regulations prevent companies from using an established term, such as "Vintage Port", to describe something that is associated with another area's region. Just like Champagne can only be used to describe wines from the Champagne region, Bourdeaux must be from Bourdeaux, etc. then "Port" should only be on bottles from the Demarcated Region of Portugal and Madeira only from those from the island of Madeira.

What irks me the most is the same California producers who are upset about these new rule changes are the same ones who campaigned to prevent the word "Napa" (and other terms) from being on bottles with grapes not from Napa. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. They want one thing only when it benefits them, then they get upset because the term they are stealing from another region can't be used on their labels anymore.