Historic Port for Historic Mixed Drinks / Cocktails
Posted: 11:38 Sat 31 Dec 2022
Many very early mixed drink recipes, such as Bishop, Negus, Flip and so on call for Port or can be made in a Port variation. However, something that often troubles me is what the “Port” should be.
I think it is fairly clear that fortification was a process that was invented for export purposes and that it also developed slowly. I think the first experiments with fortification were by the shippers who would buy dry wine from the Douro and fortify it in Vila Nova de Gaia immediately before shipping. I have read that this was partly because the barrels of spirit were valuable and they didn’t want to risk sending them upstream to the Quintas (presumably because of the dangers of the journey or because they didn’t trust the farmers). I don’t know whether moving the point of fortification up-stream to the Quintas happened at the same time that wine-makers started fortifying to arrest fermentation but I assume not since those of us fortunate to try some 19th Century Ports have noticed that they are often off-dry to a reasonably late period.
I appreciate that in the 1840s James Forrester was complaining about fortification in general and advocating a return to unfortified wines. I presume there is no reason to doubt that what he had in mind was something like the Douro table wines which we can, happily, enjoy today in addition to the Port. But I also get the impression that he was very much howling into the wine since there aren’t that many references to unfortified Port in other books about the mid-19th Century.
I think when this happened is important for historic recipes. For example, I once tried a hot Port-and-chocolate drink which claimed to be made from a 18th Century recipe. With modern Port, it was undrinkably sweet. Re-making it at home with dry table wine improved it considerably.
I also think Forrester was probably complaining about earlier experiments with fortification which were much less refined. For example, one sometimes encounters a suggestion that excess spirit should be burned off the Port. I think it is possible, just about, to get something at about 20% ABV to ignite but it is not very easy and I wonder why anyone would bother. It makes me wonder if they were fortifying to a higher ABV? I suppose this isn’t a big issue since the burning off of alcohol would bring the ABV down to modern strengths. However, I also wonder what they were using to fortify. I presume it was produced locally rather than abroad, as now. I wonder if it was pomace brandy (like grappa) since this uses up the by-products of wine making and which would impart a strong flavour to the wine.
All of this leads me to wonder what we should use for historic cocktail recipes in lieu of the modern stuff? I think for any really early recipes (although I am not sure how many there are) we should look to modern Douro table wines. But for the 19th Century? Say 1827 (when Oxford Night Caps was published) or 1862 (the date of Thomas’ “How to Mix Drinks”)?
I am not sure anyone makes anything like this any more so perhaps we should think about reverse-engineering historic Port from other fortified wines or spirits?
Any thoughts?
I think it is fairly clear that fortification was a process that was invented for export purposes and that it also developed slowly. I think the first experiments with fortification were by the shippers who would buy dry wine from the Douro and fortify it in Vila Nova de Gaia immediately before shipping. I have read that this was partly because the barrels of spirit were valuable and they didn’t want to risk sending them upstream to the Quintas (presumably because of the dangers of the journey or because they didn’t trust the farmers). I don’t know whether moving the point of fortification up-stream to the Quintas happened at the same time that wine-makers started fortifying to arrest fermentation but I assume not since those of us fortunate to try some 19th Century Ports have noticed that they are often off-dry to a reasonably late period.
I appreciate that in the 1840s James Forrester was complaining about fortification in general and advocating a return to unfortified wines. I presume there is no reason to doubt that what he had in mind was something like the Douro table wines which we can, happily, enjoy today in addition to the Port. But I also get the impression that he was very much howling into the wine since there aren’t that many references to unfortified Port in other books about the mid-19th Century.
I think when this happened is important for historic recipes. For example, I once tried a hot Port-and-chocolate drink which claimed to be made from a 18th Century recipe. With modern Port, it was undrinkably sweet. Re-making it at home with dry table wine improved it considerably.
I also think Forrester was probably complaining about earlier experiments with fortification which were much less refined. For example, one sometimes encounters a suggestion that excess spirit should be burned off the Port. I think it is possible, just about, to get something at about 20% ABV to ignite but it is not very easy and I wonder why anyone would bother. It makes me wonder if they were fortifying to a higher ABV? I suppose this isn’t a big issue since the burning off of alcohol would bring the ABV down to modern strengths. However, I also wonder what they were using to fortify. I presume it was produced locally rather than abroad, as now. I wonder if it was pomace brandy (like grappa) since this uses up the by-products of wine making and which would impart a strong flavour to the wine.
All of this leads me to wonder what we should use for historic cocktail recipes in lieu of the modern stuff? I think for any really early recipes (although I am not sure how many there are) we should look to modern Douro table wines. But for the 19th Century? Say 1827 (when Oxford Night Caps was published) or 1862 (the date of Thomas’ “How to Mix Drinks”)?
I am not sure anyone makes anything like this any more so perhaps we should think about reverse-engineering historic Port from other fortified wines or spirits?
Any thoughts?