OPORTO.. vn 



Of course we tasted port wine of every character and 

 quality ; from the full-bodied, deeply-coloured, heavy wine, 

 so attractive to the English palate, to the tawny-hued, 

 lighter, clean-tasted nectar, forty years in age, but scarcely 

 t(Ui years in bottle ; which, though not an article of com- 

 merce, is extensivel}^ consumed by the English residents in 

 Oporto, and wherein they certainly show their good taste, 

 for more exquisite flavour, with the colour of light sherry, 

 and with the taste of superlative port, T never met. 



We learnt from our good friends at Oporto, some in the 

 wine trade and others unconnected with the business, 

 many particulars which were interesting; and in this city, 

 whose wharfs are redolent with port, everybody appears 

 to be perfectly acquainted with the whole process by which 

 that staple article of the trade of their district is brought 

 to perfection. We were told that one great art consists in 

 stopping the fermentation at the right moment, and this 

 is effected immediately by the addition of brandy ; and it 

 was openly acknowledged that, in preparing port for the 

 English and foreign market, it is absolutely necessar}'- to 

 add a considerable amount of brandy, without which the 

 wine would not keep : but then it was explained that this 

 so-called brandy is a spirit distilled from the port-wine 

 grape, and so is not the addition or adulteration which at 

 first sight might seem to be implied, but rather the mix- 

 ture of a kindred material prepared after another fashion. 

 No less candidly was it acknowledged, that log-wood was 

 used in considerable quantities for the purpose of im- 

 parting the deep colour required ; and for the same pur- 

 pose elder berries, or rather the skins of elder berries, from 

 which the juice had been expressed, and which had been 

 dried and enclosed in a bag (like our washerwoman's homely 

 blue bag), were frequently resorted to. But it was ex- 

 plained that this was never pretended to benefit the flavour, 

 but wholly in deference to the consumers' taste, who de 



