Travel

Port with French accent
«Vinnaya Karta» №8(99) October 2008

Having arrived in Oporto later than the rest of the journalist group, I joined the tour around Grand Cruz production facilities in the place that never fails to impress.

It is, of course, an aging cellar. Impressions from the Gran Cruz cellar, though, are multiplied by its giant dimensions.

Over 200 wooden vats, each containing 35,000 litres of wine, stand still in the semi-darkness. People look like Lilliputians on their backdrop. Coopers built these colossuses right in the cellar, it would have been impossible to do it otherwise. As the vats were joined by hand, there are no two identical among them. All these oak mega-vessels are filled with port at various stages of its miraculous transformation — from young, bright ruby, fruity wine into a liquid with muted colour and settled character. Such metamorphosis is slow. The age of the youngest tawnies is approaching 3 years, and there are those which are kept in oak for 10, 20, 30 years.

Were the cellar a pedestrian zone, it would be full of signs — The Young Tawny Boulevard, The Reserve Alley, The 30-Year-Old Port Lane. Walking along the giant labyrinth is akin to a meditative exercise. One strolls at a leisurely pace, wonders about the scale of things, reads museum-like signs like or examines metal joints and other curious details of the vats. It takes little to get lost in this cellar. Yet, our group didn’t want to get lost. It probably couldn’t happen anyway — we were escorted by Gran Cruz representatives who, like good tour guides, knew the route perfectly and, as generous hosts, were telling us about production and answering dozens of questions.

The receiving side was speaking in French, and in sounded unusual. After all, we were in Oporto, in the birthplace of a famous fortified wine whose history is mainly connected to the Portuguese and British. Yet, there is nothing strange in the French presence. Gran Cruz belongs to the French holding La Martiniquaise which is today the largest port producer. Besides, the company has specialised in fortified wines and spirits for almost 75 years and today owns whisky Label 5, armagnac Saint-Vivant, rum Negrita and vodka Poliakov brands, among others. In 1956 La Martiniquaise launched Porto Cruz brands for ports, and in early eighties it acquired own production — two quintas with vineyards in the Douro Valley and production facilities and a lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, historic centre of port production.

Porto Cruz was created for a wide consumer market from the very beginning of its history. Today it remains to be the most sold port brand. Although port drinking culture is mostly associated with the British, the nation lost its leading positions a long time ago. Today France reigns supreme. French demand for ports is over times higher than British. The second and the third places are divided between Belgium and Holland. Porto Cruz has firmly established itself on the two major markets — France and Belgium. Around 8 mln. bottles, or 95% of total Gran Cruz production is sold there. Russia appears modest in this company, but 100,000 bottles to be sold this year will confirm the strongest position of the brand in this country.

Porto Cruz main offer is in tawny category that accounts for four fifths of total production. A wine’s character is determined by barrel age: the longer it stays in contact with oak, the more refined and nuanced are its aromas and flavours. They combine dried and cooked fruit, nuts, balsamic notes and others. We were offered to taste several wines with different age in the company’s laboratory — Special Reserve (average age of wines in the blend is 7 years), 20 years and 30 years. Everybody found 20-year-old tawny most appealing — with a soft bouquet of walnuts, dried fruit and vanilla.

A lot of attention in Gran Cruz is given to white port production. It can be drunk all year round, and in summer it goes best in a cocktail with tonic, ice and a lemon slice. This cocktail was my favourite drink in Oporto when the temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius. Gran Cruz also makes LBV (late bottled vintage) and vintage ports. The company decided to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the French revolution by producing a record volume of 1989 vintage port. When the vintage is announced, Gran Cruz usually releases around 30-40,000 bottles, but in 1989 there number reached a million. This port is still being shipped directly from the company cellars.

Port is the only category among fortified wines that is able to sustain its share on the worldwide market without losses. Porto Cruz brand, a market leader by volume, would never have such wide consumer recognition and stable sales growth if the company didn’t implement a consistent marketing strategy. The brand gives a strong message to the consumer — “A country where black is colourful”. Its advertising with a mysterious woman in black on the background of bright exotic colours instantly catches one’s eye. Promotional activities include the sponsorship of MTV Music Awards and High Fashion week in Paris, but the main idea of the brand is to be accessible to a wide consumer base.

Conservative attitudes towards port shouldn’t prevail neither in terms of consumers nor in situations of consumption. Traditionally port is served with chocolate desserts or after a meal. A bit of courage — and it turns out that various categories can be great for other occasions. The French, for example, are known to serve tawny with roasted nuts for an aperitif. Gran Cruz asked L’Atelier des Chefs to make a creative menu for its ports. Young tawny made a great pairing with ‘sushi’ with Parma ham, avocado and Roquefort, 10-year-old tawny — with langoustines and green peas. The secret is to treat port as a wine rather than a drink with a higher alcohol content, and to select dishes depending on port’s aromas and flavours. As for our journalist group, we were drinking port wines throughout our trip and — believe me — weren’t tired of them.