PORT AND PORTUGUESE WINE DELIVERY: ACCESS THE BEST OF PORTUGUESE WINES

When the PORTOVINTAGE.COM team discovers in a property a “cuvee” which surpasses all the others and which is superior in quality to all wines of the same category, then they reserve it for their customers. With their small productions, small producers need their customers to commit well in advance.

PORTOVINTAGE.COM thus offers its members the chance to discover the best Portuguese wines and Ports from small producers. The Selection Committee is in constant search of new wines. All the wines and all the port offered are rigorously selected at the property by a blind tasting and a technical analysis. Only wines that are far superior to the standards usually observed and unanimous among the members of the Selection Committee are selected.

ALENTEJO, DÃO, BAIRRADA, SETÚBAL... DISCOVER ALL THE PORTUGUESE WINES

Portuguese wines and their production regions are truly to be discovered. They amaze, they seduce and give great pleasures. Today, with 31 Designations of Origin, many grape varieties and a wide variety of terroirs and climates, Portugal offers a wide variety of wines, white, rosé, red, muscat, sparkling, without forgetting Port and Madeira wines. Portugal is mainly renowned for its Port wines but the enormous progress made in recent years in the wine-making fields, make Portugal « the other country of wine » to be reckoned with. Many producers have revolutionized their winemaking methods and produce wines whose quality continues to improve. In the past, red wines from Portugal were considered a bit rustic. Today they offer more and more freshness and flexibility and manage to compete with the best wines in the world while having preserved their authenticity thanks to the use of indigenous grape varieties such as Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional.

TAWNY, RUBY, VINTAGE A WHOLE RANGE OF PORTS TO DISCOVER, DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME

There is a real interest in discovering the whole range of port wines because, contrary to what the offer made by most distributors might suggest, the range of port wines is very wide. The interest of the port is to be both sweet and structured and to be tasted as an aperitif, at the table, with cheese and up to coffee. However, all the ports are not alike. In the Tawnyfamily, which is left to age in barrels or in casks in contact with the air for over 80 years, the wines are of the oxidative type, becoming lighter as they age (to the point that very old reds can pass for old whites) and develop aromas of dried fruit, citrus, orange or candied apricot, with notes of nuts, cocoa, spices ... Besides the generic Tawny, there are Tawny of 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years of age obtained by assembly of different years as well as Tawny Colheita of a single year. In the Ruby family, which is sheltered from the air, the wines are reductive and retain all their life aromas of red fruits: blackcurrant, blackberry, cherry ... which evolve over time, combined with very soft tannins and a great fullness on the palate ... Apart from the generic Ruby, there are Late Bottled Vintage, all vintages, and the great Vintage, ports recognized as exceptional. In most European countries, only a very small part of the range of Port wines is known, in particular the generic Port Ruby and Port Tawny. And we always see the same labels, those of the big brands that dominate the market. This is to forget that there is a whole range of Port wines whose appellation of control dates back to 1756 and was the 1st in the world.

PORTOVINTAGE DELIVERIES: TO BE INTRODUCED TO THE BEST PRODUCERS IN PORTUGAL

In the Douro, for example, small producers know every corner of their vines, each terrace, each plot, and each grape variety, according to their altitude, the nature or the slope of the land. For each wine they know where the best grapes come from, how to vinify them and how to manage the aging. Our producers and these wines are well known to our team. PORTOVINTAGE knows these small farms well, which belong to old families of wine-growers. They are maintained with respect for tradition and offer Port wines which are real gems, far from the traditional distribution circuits, and which it is essential to discover because their unique wines delight experienced tasters. These properties are located in the three authorized production areas of the upper the Douro: Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo (Corgo is the name of the river that separates them) and Douro Superior which is located beyond the Cachão da Valeira, a geological accident which in the past limited navigation on the Douro River beyond this point.

OFTEN REMOTE AND DIFFICULT TO ACCESS TERROIRS

One of the most difficult regions to access is the Douro region in northern Portugal, the birthplace of Port wine. Although about a hundred kilometers from the city of Porto, the wine bears the name of the port that opened the doors of the world to it. In the Douro everything is difficult. There are only mountains far from the world where man had to create terraces by means of sacrifice and ingenuity to earn his living. On these shale terraces, several grape varieties have been planted in order to always be able to guarantee a minimum harvest for the winemaker and ensure his subsistence. In the Douro each gesture requires effort: due to the climatic conditions, very cold in winter for the pruning of the vines and very hot in summer, of course for the harvest on very steep terrain, for transport on very small roads and for the difficulty in finding a qualified workforce. The production of each bottle of Port wine is a true tribute to all producers.

PROTECTION OF THE QUALITY OF WINES AND PORT AND SECURE DELIVERY

So that its precious bottles are not damaged during their transport, the PORTOVINTAGE.COM team has developed the ideal packaging. It is a rigid expanded polystyrene box or reinforced cardboard with a capacity of two bottles offering the following guarantees :

• Protection against physical shock
• Protection against temperature variations
• Inviolability

The cost of delivery is optimized. Only € 15 to deliver up to 6 bottles to the European Union. Today, almost all of the wines in the world, even the largest, are shipped without much consideration to protect their quality. Port wine, although it is more resistant than most other wines due to its alcohol content and the robustness of the grape varieties from which it comes, must also be protected during its transport, and in particular from temperature too high. The Portuguese wines and Port wines offered by PORTOVINTAGE.COM remain as long as possible in the cellars of the producers before being delivered to the air-conditioned warehouse of PORTOVINTAGE.COM. Finally, the PORTOVINTAGE box in rigid expanded polystyrene offers very high thermal security by preventing the cold from "anaesthetizing" the wine and blocking its development or from heat coming to oxidize it and degrade its tannins and coloring matters. Transport is provided by the GLS group, which guarantees professional delivery to all of PORTOVINTAGE.COM's client countries.

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