Port Wine Name Origins
Where does port wine get its name from?
A tale of two cities
Port wine's name pays homage to the Portuguese city of Oporto where it is largely sold and distributed. Interestingly, port wine actually spends more time in barrels directly across the way in the city of Gaia. While just a hop, skip and a bridge away from Oporto, Vila Nova de Gaia, to the south of the Duoro River, provides a more hospitable environment for the wine to mature in.
It's all about the Euros, or Escudos
For the sake of product quality, the climate conditions of Vila Nova de Gaia are preferable to that of Oporto, but the real reason for the cellars taking root in Gaia may boil down to nothing more than pragmatic business sense. By setting up shop in Gaia, the warehouses used for storage were not required to pay taxes to the bishop of Porto.
Further Reading
- https://www.livingtours.com/en/blog/why-are-port-wine-cellars-in-gaia.html
- https://www.portugalexposure.com/port-wine-cellar-tours/
- https://www.bighammerwines.com/blogs/news/portwine
May 4, 2023