8 Port anD the Douro
PoetiC tasting notes
Winemaking conditions in the seventeenth century must have been unhygienic in the
extreme. the first wines to be exported from the douro, known as ‘portoport’, were a
poor substitute for claret. an oft-repeated ditty written by Richard ames in 1693 went:Mark how it smells, methinks a real pain
Is by the odour thrown upon my brain.
I’ve tasted it – ‘tis spiritless and flat,
And has as many different tastes,
As can be found in compound pastes...
But fetch us a pint of any sort,
Navarre, Galicia, anything but Port.in the last decade of the seventeenth century england’s drinking habits became less
a matter of personal whim and more a symbol of political loyalty. in the years that
followed James ii’s expulsion from england in 1688, the Jacobites would toast ‘the king
over the water’ in claret, whilst the loyal Whigs raised their tankards of Port to King
William and the Glorious Revolution. thus the scots who remained loyal to the exiled
stuart king recited a sad ditty:Firm and erect the Highland chieftain stood,
Sweet was his mutton and his claret good,
‘Thou shalt drink Port,’ the English statesman cried;
He drank the poison, and his spirit died.south of the border, even the english tories needed some persuading by a patriotic
Jonathan swift:Be sometimes to your country true,
Have once the public good in view;
Bravely despise champagne at court
And choose to dine at home with Port.in the same year swift probably came nearer to the truth when he wrote ‘i love white
Portuguese Wine more than claret, champagne or Burgundy; i have a sad, vulgar
appetite.’