Port tonic--great drink

[Food Inventors]

Try one before summer is over. You will love it.

In a tall glass with ice mix equal parts white port and tonic water.
garnish with a big slice of lemon.

It is also really good with soda instead of tonic if you want something less sweet.

Other good points about the drink:
White Port is usually pretty cheap (~$10/bottle)
It is lower in alcohol than Gin or Vodka so your guests won't get drunk before dinner.
Enjoy

[Rom]

White port? I have never heard of White port. I love port...what am i missing out on here!?!?! :)

I want to try that, but have never seen white port.

[GPSMD]

White Port Wine is very good. Here, in Portugal, it wasn’t well known until 4-5 years ago.
Is softer, good to drink before dinner.

[QSis]

Oooo! White port! Never heard of it, but I will look for it!

Welcome to DC, GPSMD, and thanks for posting to bump up this thread!

Lee

[GPSMD]

Thank you.
Well, I can say some more things about Port.
But I'm not a specialist...
White Port Wine has less Alcohol than Red (Tawny ou Ruby), but that's a little difference, something like one or two degrees.
The taste is slightly different, and the color is very beautiful. Normally, we see Red Port Wine in dark bottles, but the white one is selled in green bottles, for easy identification.

Port Wine is cheap. The real Port is produced in Portugal, in the Douro region. In a portuguese home, there's always a Port bottle... Is a "must have"... and a "must drink". We can drink in formal or informal events. That's always OK because is not very alcoholic. Is quite a "conservative" drink.

The better Port is that with classification "Vintage". A Vintage Port is not so cheap. A centennial vintage could be very, very expensive. A vintage is done from "single year" grapes. (Port wine can be bottled from a mix of several years). We can have 2 or 3 vintages in 10 years, in so-called "good years".
Im my opinion, a vintage is to drink "alone", not to mix in cocktails.
But a Port Tonic, for example, is a very good cocktail, with a "not so conservative" image. In the summer, is spectacular!
Port is a sweet, good taste drink. We must drink not so warm and not so cool, but "more cool than warm", something like 10-12 ºC.

Is said that Washington and is fellows drank some Port wine, after the Declaration of Independence signature.

Port Wine's history is very interesting. I recommend to read, for example,
in Wikipedia.

"Alto Douro Vinhateiro" region (Wine-producing "High" Douro Region) is a world heritage site.

Well, I only can say: go, buy and drink.
But please confirm: "Produced and bottled in Portugal".

[QSis]

Does white port say exactly that on the labels?

I just came back from the package store and saw only labels with "Tawny" or "Ruby" or just "Port". The wine guy wasn't in yet, and the woman at the register isn't very bright.

I missed the part about the green bottles the first time I read the above post. So, is all white port in green bottles and ONLY white port in green bottles?

Lee

[Bilby]

Here's one made in Perth, West Aust.
Jane Brook Estate Wines :: Wine Information

I found it to be sweeter than the normal red ports.

[GPSMD]

No. Is not a question of "never", "always", or "only". I'm not very sure about that, because White Port is something new for us. The few bottles that I know, normally are different from those with red port wine, in green color, maybe for marketing reasons. In Portugal, Port is bottled in dark bottles, normally black, for better preservation. White Port bottles could be not so dark, and in a different color, normally green. A trade mark of Port, normally produces Red port, the "normal" one. And you don't see the word "red": you only read tawny, ruby, that are color types. If the trade mark also produces white port, they have a different bootle. The bottle could have the same form, but the color is different.

And Bilby, excuse me, but Jane Brook Estate Wines don't produce Port, but port. Got the difference? The capital case?
Real Port is produced in Portugal. Is something registered.
That's like scotish Whisky or french Champagne.
After you taste the first time, you understand the difference.

If you want, I send you a photo with a real Port bottle.
They have a seal, from the Portuguese Republic.

[Bilby]

Thanks GPSMD. I know about the naming rights issue but the one with Port and Sherry haven't been enforced in Australia yet, so they remain Port and Sherry here until then!! Only the wines and some cheeses have suffered the naming issues so far.

I like or dislike a product for the product's sake, not where it comes from. Original is only that - the first. Best will always be a personal issue.

I haven't tried Portugese Port. Have tried Spanish Sherry and have to say, I prefer the Australian version. But as I say, taste is a personal thing and possibly even has something to do with the tastes we grow up with.

[GPSMD]

I understand that point of view. Here, in Portugal, we have some "champagne-like" wine. That´s very good. But isn't "Champagne".
Portuguese "champagne" (we call that "vinho espumante", something like "sparkling wine") is more cheap and has a different taste. And I prefer the portuguese one. And, for example, you have an italian Champagne-like wine, called "Asti" (probably this name is registered), sweeter, very cheap, and very popular here in Portugal.

Portuguese Port Wine is protected in European Union and United States.
To distinguish both, Port and port, is used the name "Vinho do Porto".
As portuguese, I'm suspect (), and is very difficult to imagine a clear (not dark) bottle to a very special wine, with so special needs of care for conservation reasons. For us, something is wrong about that.
If we talk about the cheapest Port, like "Ruby", that doesn't get better with time. But if we talk about a "Tawny", or, specially, a "Vintage", is totally insane to use a clear bottle.
So, there is a big difference between Port and port.
I only can say to you to try the "Vinho do Porto".
I recommend. Is not a question fo chauvinism.
It's only one of the best things we have, here in Portugal, to offer to a friend, specially to a foreigner. So, as a friend, I recommend what is very good.
I understand if you prefer the australian one, but we have the obligation of offering the best to our friends.

Cheers!