Cálem port

A. A. Cálem was founded in 1859 by Antonio Alves Cálem who dedicated the first years of his company to producing and shipping Port wines to Brazil and Europe using Portuguese-owned clippers. In time, the House of Cálem diversified its markets and today sells its wines bottled at the origin to more than 30 different countries. The House produces Port wines as well as still wine from the Douro and Dão Demarcated Wine Regions of Portugal. A. A. Cálem is one of the most important brands in Portugal and one of the largest Port Houses in the trade.

Founded more than 140 years ago and still closely connected with both the city of Oporto and the Douro region, the House of Calem overlooks the golden river with one of the area’s most distinctive landmark cellars. The company owns both extensive grape vineyards in the region and ageing cellars on the waterfront at Vila Nova de Gaia, the area’s largest Portuguese owned Port House.

A strict adherence to quality control and a stated desire to produce the best Port wines possible have earned the House of Calem a prestigious international reputation. The company is proud to use that reputation to represent Portugal worldwide - combining a respect for knowledge gained through tradition and experience with the ability to adapt to new markets and embrace technology to complement centuries' old production methods.

About port wine

Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto, Oporto, Porto, and often simply Port) is a Portuguese, fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It's typically a sweet wine, but comes as dry or semi-dry too. It is often served as a dessert wine. Wines in the style of the Portuguese product called port are produced around the world in several countries—most notably Australia, South Africa, India, Canada and the United States. However, under European Union guidelines, only the product from Portugal may be labelled as Port. In the United States, Federal law mandates that the Portuguese-made product be labeled Porto or Vinho do Porto.

Port is produced from grapes grown and processed in the Douro region. The wine produced is then fortified with the addition of a Brandy (distilled grape spirits), in order to stop the fermentation leaving residual sugar in the wine and to boost the alcohol content. The wine is then stored and aged, often in barrels stored in caves (Portuguese meaning "cellars") as is the case in Vila Nova de Gaia, before being bottled. The wine received its name, "Port," in the latter half of the 17th century from the seaport city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, where much of the product was brought to market or for export to other countries in Europe from the Leixões docks. The Douro valley where Port wine is produced was defined and established as a protected region, or appellation in 1756 — making it the second oldest defined and protected wine region in the world.

Tawny - Port Wine type

Tawny ports are wines made from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels, exposing them to gradual oxidation and evaporation. As a result, they gradually mellow to a golden-brown colour. The exposure to wood imparts "nutty" flavours to the wine, which is blended to match the house style.

Tawny Reserve port (without an indication of age) is a basic blend of wood aged port that has spent at least seven years in barrels.

Tawny with an indication of age is a blend of several vintages, with the average years "in wood" stated on the label, the official categories being 10, 20, 30 and over 40 years. For each category, the average age of the various vintage is at least that of the given category.

The cheapest forms of Tawny Port are young wines made from a blend of red and white grapes. Unlike Tawny Reserve and Tawnies with an indication of age, they may have spent little or no time maturing in wood.

Tawny ports from a single vintage are called Colheitas (pronounced col-YATE-ah, meaning harvest). Instead of an indication of age (10, 20...) their actual vintage year is mentioned. However, they should not be mistaken with Vintage port (see below). The term colheita is also applied to madeiras produced from grapes of a single vintage.