Real Companhia Velha

The Real Companhia Velha is one of the oldest producer of Port wine and was founded by the king in 1756. While here we took a quick tour of the cellar and saw some of the oldest Ports in existence as well as the oldest currently available from 1867, which cost about 5,000 Euros a bottle. There are two different types of Port wine, white and red. The red is the most commonly used and is available at various ages. The ruby is the youngest and sweetest while the tawny is the oldest and are bottled at the 10, 20 and 40+ year marks. The exceptions to this are the vintage and late-vintage bottles. As part of any tour we were offered a tasting of ruby Port. It was dark and very sweet ideal for sipping as a dessert wine or poured over cut strawberries that are sprinkled with sugar and mixed then chilled for a few minutes. Try it you won’t regret it. For an additional fee I tasted the 40 year-old tawny. This Port is very different from the young ruby as it is much stronger and has more of an amber colour to it. Still delicious nevertheless! If you are going to Porto then you have to go visit one of the many wine cellars for Port wine.

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