The city of Porto gave its name to the country Portugal via the ancient Roman-Celtic name for the city, Portus Cale.  In turn it also gave its name to the fortified wine known as Port. The Port wine industry originated in Porto and its cross-river sibling Vila Nova de Gaia in the early part of the 17th century when the earliest known Shipper set up shop. Although wines had been produced in Portugal for many centuries, Port wine as we know it today was first produced in the early 1800s. Up until that time, various production methods and “additives” were incorporated in wines that lacked consistency or definition and had little similarity to the wines we now consume as Port.

By law, Port may only be produced in the Douro valley region in Portugal, whereas “port-style” wines are vinified in America, Australia, France, South Africa and a few other places around the world. In some cases these port-style wines may be very good, but they are not authentic Port for the same reason that California’s sparkling wine is not Champagne. Port is a wine that is all about place, and that place is Portugal’s Douro valley region. The region was established in 1756 by decree of the Marques de Pombal, the Portuguese Prime Minister at the time.  This makes the Douro Valley the 3rd oldest demarcated appellation in the world, after only Italy’s Chianti (1716) and Hungary’s Tokaji (1730).  But it is the oldest in the world to be demarcated and regulated! This was almost 100 years before France’s Bordeaux AOC classification in 1855!  At the direction of the Marques de Pombal, nearly 340 large stone markers were set around the newly defined Douro wine region to mark its boundaries.  Some of these “Pombalino stones” can still be found throughout the region today. The Douro valley is also now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  To learn more about the Marquês de Pombal and the demarcation of the Douro, you might be interested in Roy's The Methuen-Pombal Link & The Demarcation of the Douro.

Wine has been made in the Douro region since at least the days of the Roman Empire’s presence in the area, ca. 220 BC. While there is some debate about who was actually the first Port wine shipper, in 1638 a German ambassador named Cristiano Kopke founded what is currently acknowledged as the first Port shipping company in Porto. Kopke’s eponymous firm is still in existence today.

In the latter half of the 17th century, the British had set up a colony of merchants not far from Porto. During the many skirmishes with France around that time, the British and Dutch levied heavy tariffs against the prized wines produced in France, especially Claret which was highly sought after in England. In 1703 the British passed the Treaty of Methuen which effectively gave Portugal special trade agreements with reduced tariffs on their wine in exchange for Britain’s textiles. Wine production in the Douro, which made richer and more flavorful wines than anywhere else in Portugal, was dramatically increased and the Port trade began in earnest.

The first Port shipper established by the British was Warre, which began their trading business in 1670. The firm has been owned by family members ever since and they’re the only British Port firm from that far back in history who can make that claim. Over the next few decades many companies followed, such as Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman, Sandeman, Croft, Quarles Harris, Graham, and Silva & Cosens (now known as Dow) all of which are still in business. Throughout history the Port wine business has remained an integral part of everyday life in Portugal and one of its most prolific industries and employers. To put this into perspective, approximately 1/5 of Portugal’s export revenues are directly derived from the shipping of Port wine.