10 Things You Should Know About Portuguese Wine
1. There is more to Portuguese wine than just port. While port is what put Portugal on the world wine map, today there are many winemakers producing dry wines -- red, white, rose, and even sparkling wine. 2. A Portuguese dry wine is not port. Even if a traditional Port producer makes a dry wine. What's the difference between port and dry wine? Port is what's called a fortified wine, meaning it has been beefed up by adding a wine spirit, such as brandy, during the fermentation process that turns grape juice into wine. The brandy stops the fermentation cold, before all of the sugar in the grape juice is converted into alcohol. This is why ports are sweet, and a dessert wine. Even though fermentation is halted, the brandy increases the alcohol level of the port, and a fortified wine is the result. The dry wines are fermented dry and are not sweet. No wine spirit or brandy is added. They are made just like any other dry wine. 3. Portuguese wine equals value. One ad...