Having spent hundreds of hours in the past two months researching manuscripts, websites, translations and nearly two dozen older tomes on Port ... a priceless and ironic thought came to mind:
When the British first started shipping it back to England, (replacing claret as the drink of choice) Port was really nothing but a dark, unfortified, Douro red table wine. It took decades before early experimentation with fortification was finally accepted and it wasn't until the first half of the 19th century that Port took the form that we know of today. The irony being that currently, the Douro growers and producers are heading back from Port makers to their earlier roots, producing dark red table wines.
Never before in the past 330+ years, have both Port and the table wines of the Douro, thrived simultaneously. We are witness to historic changes in this way.
The Irony of Port and the Douro
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The Irony of Port and the Douro
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com