Muller Thurgau Port Blend Red Bordeaux Germany Pfalz

Port wine is Portugal’s great gift to the world. Coming from the ancient harbour capital city of Porto and the surrounding Douro Valley region, Port wine has been made by Portuguese vintners for at least four hundred years, although viticulture has been continually happening in the area for well over two thousand years. Port is a fortified wine, meaning it is a wine which has been bolstered by the addition of grape brandy. Originally, this was used as a method of preservation, allowing the delicate Portuguese wines to survive the journey by sea to trading partners in the UK and France. However, the wonderful taste and unique character the fortification process lends to the wine soon became massively popular, and before long, this new wine style was a hit all across Europe.


Unlike some other fortified wines, Port is made by adding brandy before the wine itself has completed its fermentation. The result of this is that plenty of the grapes’ natural sweetness is maintained in the barrel, meaning it is exceptionally smooth and rounded on the palate. Port comes in many different styles - Tawny Port wines are prized for their richness and mellow character, Reserve and Late Bottled Ports are full of fruit flavor. Vintage Port is a complex, wonderful thing - capable of standing up to some of the finest wines in the world when it comes to depth of flavor and fascinating features.

As in many Old World countries, the rise of viticulture in Germany came about as a result of the Roman Empire, who saw the potential for vine cultivation in the vast flatlands around the base of the Rhine valley. Indeed, for over a thousand years, Germany's wine production levels were enormous, with much of the south of the country being used more or less exclusively for growing grapes. Over time, this diminished to make way for expanding cities and other types of industries, but Southern Germany remains very much an important wine region within Europe, with many beautifully balanced and flavorful German wines being prized by locals and international wine lovers alike. The hills around Baden-Baden and Mannheim are especially noteworthy, as these produce the high end of the characteristic semi-sweet white wines which couple so perfectly with German cheeses and pickled vegetables. However, all of Germany's wine producing regions have something special and unique to offer, and are a joy to explore and experience.

The beautiful German wine region of Pfalz is the second biggest in the country, and is upheld as one of the finest in all of central Europe. A long and narrow region, just nine miles wide, it sits on the French border, and shares many characteristics with Alsace on its western border. This is a peaceful, verdant region, where grapevines outnumber inhabitants by a ratio of six hundred to one, and as such, it comes as no surprise to find that the wines produced here are laid back, elegant affairs which pair perfectly with the slow-cooked cuisine of the region.

The history of Pfalz is an impressive one, and before the phylloxera epidemic wreaked its effects on the region, it was widely regarded as one of the best in the world. Indeed, the Riesling wines of Pfalz used to grace the tables of the crowned heads of Europe, and were even served at the dinner which heralded the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The fine old vines which grow there benefit from the warm and dry summers (this is the warmest region of Germany by far), and the very mild winters which produce wines of extraordinary balance and expression.