How Port is made Port is part of the diverse and fascinating family of fortified wines, all of which are made by adding a small amount of grape spirit, or ‘brandy’, to the wine at some stage in the wine making process. The fortification of port is carried out as follows. Once the grapes have been crushed, the fermentation starts to convert the natural sugar of the grape juice into alcohol. At this time, the grape skins must be constantly submerged in the fermenting wine so that they release the natural substances which give the wine its structure, colour and flavour. For Delaforce’ s most prestigious wines this is done by foot treading, an expensive but very effective method. Other wines are made in specially designed fermentation tanks. When about half of the natural sugar of the grape juice has been fermented, a small amount of clean and neutral grape spirit is added to the wine. This fortification, as it is known, stops the fermentation and preserves some of the natural sweetness of the grape in the finished wine. The wine is then left to settle in large vats until early the following year when it is taken down to the coast to age in the cool and tranquil wine cellars, known as ‘lodges’, in Vila Nova de Gaia. The different styles of Port Unlike wines which are not fortified port can be left to mature for many years in wood. The character of the wine depends on the amount of time it remains in wood and the type of wooden vessel. Most ports are fully matured in wood before they are bottled. These are known as ‘wood ports’ and require no further ageing in bottle. The fruitier styles of wood port, such as Ruby port or Late Bottled Vintage, are aged for a few years in large oak vats, allowing them to ripen and mature without losing their youthful freshness and vigour. The more mellow styles, such as aged tawnies and ‘Colheita’ ports, are matured in smaller oak barrels known as ‘casks’ and are usually aged for much longer, developing wonderful rich complex flavours in the process. Some ports remain for only a short time in wood and need to be aged further in the bottle. The principal type of bottle aged port is Vintage port. Vintage port is left for only two years in vat and then continues to age for many years or decades in bottle, where it slowly acquires the delicate and complex aromas characteristic of this style of wine.