White port may sound like a contradiction, but it’s an affordable introduction to fortified dessert wines
White ports like Cockburn’s “Porto Branco” offer balancing acidity for intense blue cheeses or custard-y desserts — or with tonic, Portuguese-style, can be a refreshing aperitif.
Cockburn’s “Porto Branco” Fine White Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
$13.99
19% alcohol
PLCB Item #97535
Sale price through March 2, regularly $15.99
White port may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it’s a delightful — and affordable — discovery for those willing to depart from the norm. Porto is the formal appellation given to the fortified dessert wines of northern Portugal’s Douro Valley, often referred to as “port wine” in English. More than 90% of port production is red, with the top wines being vintage-dated bottlings that can age well for a century or more.
This longevity is due to port’s unique production method, where the fermentation stage of winemaking is interrupted and halted by an abrupt “fortification,” or addition of distilled spirit — typically an undiluted, unaged grape brandy. Historically, spiking barrels of wine with brandy was intended to help preserve them for long sea voyages and took place after fermentation was complete.
In the mid-19th century, producers like this one began making their wines sweeter to meet the fashionable tastes being set in London by adding the brandy earlier and earlier in the winemaking process. Nowadays both red and white port wines taste like grape liqueurs because that’s precisely what they are. Their complex production yields a drink that contains roughly equal parts sweet grape juice, dry grape wine, and white hot grappa, clocking in at roughly 20% alcohol and 10% residual grape sugar by volume.
In a white port like this one, the flavors of honeyed lemons and dried apricots feature a subtle floral perfume from the inclusion of some hyper-fragrant grapes like muscat and Malvasia in the blend. Served chilled on its own, the wine’s density is brightened with balancing acidity and makes an ideal after-dinner accompaniment for intense blue cheeses or custard desserts. But for those who want to drink it as the Portuguese do, try it over ice topped with tonic water and a slice of orange. Known as a “P&T,” for porto and tonic, the result is dangerously delicious and refreshing as an aperitif before dinner.
Also available at:
Cheers Wine & Spirits in Voorhees, $15.99