In 1638 a variety of notable events occurred around the world. To put a bit of historic perspective on the era I offer here a bird’s eye view of a handful of different global happenings that took place 1638:
*The birth of Louis XIV on September 5. He would grow up to be one of France’s most important kings.
*The founding of the colony of South Carolina (Virginia, America’s first colony was founded in 1607).
*The capture of Bagdad by the Ottoman Empire on December 25.
*On Feb. 22, the death of Santorio Sanctorius, the Venetian physician who invented the thermometer.
*April 24, 1638 marks the beginning of the settlement of what would become New Haven, Connecticut.
*In 1638 the first bottles of Port wine were shipped northward from Portugal by Nicolau Köpke.
While each of these events was significant in its own way, my focus here is on Köpke, the world’s oldest Port house. Its founder, Nicolau Köpke, was the Consul General of the Hanseatic League, a German organization devoted from the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries to developing and protecting European commercial activities including exporting wine.
During his tenure with the company Köpke, who had gravitated from Hamburg to Portugal, fell in love with Port Wine and ultimately began producing it himself. After purchasing a farm in the Douro, Köpke shifted his attention from buying wine for resale to producing it, with Port Wine eventually becoming the house’s primary enterprise. In 1922 Köpke’s company acquired the magnificent Quinta de São Luiz, a property that became the site where all Köpke DOC Douro wines are still produced. The beautiful estate is located in the Upper Douro region, the oldest demarcated and regulated wine growing region it the world. It is also a UNESCO Word Heritage Site. Today, three centuries after Nicolau Köpke first sailed into Portugal, his descendants are still involved in the Port business. In 1841 they changed the family name to C.N. Kopke.
Portugal’s Douro Valley, the longtime home of the country’s Port industry, runs from the city of Oporto to the Spanish border. Vintage Port, which is the most expensive and most prestigious of the Port range is created from the fruit of a single, exceptional vintage. It spends one year in a barrel before being bottled. Powerful and rich, Vintage Port is comparatively rare as it made only in the very best years. If the Port is less than 40 years old it should be opened and decanted two or three hours before serving, or for older vintages 30 to 60 minutes before serving.
Tawny Port comes in four different ages: 10 year, 20 year, 30 year and 40 year. The ages refer to the length of time the wine spends in a barrel before being bottled. That time in bottle oxidizes the Port, rounds out the flavors, and gives it a darker color the longer it ages. In a recent Port tasting I was drawn to the Kopke 10-year-old Port whose pleasing and complex flavors of caramel and dried fruit I particularly liked, along with the suggestion of cherry hugging the palate on the finish. I was likewise impressed by the Kopke 20-year-old which offered a similar palate that also emphasized dried fruits, especially figs. Sharing the wealth of flavor in the previous vintages the 30-year-old Kopke underscores even more the spiciness and herbaceous character of the Port, with the 40-year-old notching up the range of flavors with hits of balsamic, chocolate, coffee and caramel, all of it embraced by lovely acidity on the finish.
Colheita is tawny Port made from a single harvest and aged in wood for a minimum of seven years. Some Colheitas may spend up to 20 years in that same barrel (the word “colheita” means “vintage”).
Ruby Port, which is younger, fresher tasting and less complex than Tawny or Colheita, is also generally lighter in color and brimming with sweet fruity flavors. Brandy or other fortified spirits are added to the Ruby’s grape must, which helps preserve the fruit’s sweetness and increase its alcohol content. It is then aged in oak barrels for 2-3 years before being bottled. Ruby Port and Colheita Ports do not need to be decanted. Like all Ports, however, they do need to be tried by all who love wine If you have yet to experiment with the various types, it is true by definition that you don’t know what you’re missing…and to my taste, you are missing a lot of deliciousness!
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