Thanksgiving

Due to having a couple of extra days off during the Thanksgiving weekend we decided to take a trip to Porto, Portugal. When we left Germany it was snowing, then when we landed in Porto it was about 60 and sunny! Our first day in Porto we explored the old part of the city and then took a river cruise. We then enjoyed a typical Portuguese dinner of lamb and fish. Our second day we took a tour around the city and then headed to start enjoying what Porto is really known for, port wine. We visited a couple of cellars, explored the caves that the big oak barrels are kept in, and then tried some wine. The grapes for the port wine are grown about 100 kilometers up river from Porto. There is a set of mountains that create a barrier for the grapes from the winds off the Atlantic. These mountains help create the perfect climate for the port wine grapes of dry summers and harsh winters. This specific climate creates a very thick skinned grape that makes perfect port wine. The grapes are then hand gathered, put in huge vats and crushed by people stomping on them. The juice is then put in large oak barrels, after three days brandy is added to the wine to stop the fermentation and create a sweet wine. It then continues to sit in barrels aging for 2 years, at this time the master of the wines tries the wines. If the master states that the wine is a vintage classic then the wine is bottled and continues to age in the bottles. Port wine is the only wine that continues to get better with age. When you open a well aged port wine you have to decanter the wine to get the particles out and let it breathe about 45 minutes, also as soon as it is open it needs to be consumed within 2 days so that it does not oxidize too much. If the wine is not considered a vintage classic it may be put into a large oak barrel to age up to 10 years more or it is kept in smaller barrels where as it ages it becomes a lighter or white wine as it oxidizes. Our last day in Porto we checked out the hall of music and then headed for home, where there was even more snow. We loved Porto, we cannot wait for our next trip.