TRIVIA: Port grapes ... how many are permitted?

[Roy Hersh]

In the good old days of the IVP (the IVDP did not come along until 70 years later in 2003) there were 48 red grapes and plenty of others for white Port, which were allowed in the production of Port.

How many RED grape varieties are legally allowed in the Port blend today?

[Glenn E.]

Fun question!

I've heard numbers anywhere from 80 to 100 with 88 being the number that pops most prominently into my mind.

[Todd Pettinger]

I seem to recall a number of 46 or 48.

I don't know how many definitively are allowed but I know only 6 or 7 are the most used...

Todd

[Edward Nemergut]

Frankly, I don't know how many are allowed, but I thought it was up in the 80's. I do recall reading somewhere that only 29 were "recommended"

[Glenn E.]

Just for fun I've been trying to find this online... I take a guess when the question is posted, but then go and try to find out if I'm right.

Well... dang, this one is hard to find! I keep running into the following in legal documents:

As castas a utilizar na elaboração dos vinhos e produtos
vínicos com direito à DOC Douro são as que
constam do anexo ao presente Estatuto.

Loosely translated, that means "the grapes that are allowed to be used in the production of wine in the DOC Douro are listed in the annex of the present Statute."

I've found that exact statement, or a very slight variation on that statement, in 3-5 different Portuguese laws. But I can't find the "present Statute" anywhere!

I think they lost it and they're just hoping no one notices.

[oscarquevedo]

I would say a total of 65 red grapes authorized, including 14 recommended (8 as very good and 6 as good). Between the authorized general group we can find some international recognized varietals such as pinot noir (regular) or alicante bouschet (bad).

Interestingly, just 8 grapes have more than 1% of the total area!!!

[Anders]

I`ve read in a book that almost 80 is aloud to use, but almost everybody use the 5 big ons

[Roy Hersh]

According to Richard Mayson:

Even in the 20th Century it was quite common to find vineyards planted as field blends, using many of the then 48 permitted varieties (today there are nine), all ripening at different times; the upshot is that the harvest will always have an average rather than an optimum ripeness. Planting in blocks according to variety conferred an obvious advantage, and of the twelve varieties planted at Evramoira, five were selected as being of superior quality.

In the 1920s, Dick Yeatman (Alistair Robertson's uncle and part of the lineage from Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) block planted grapes at Vargellas and performed many experiments. More took place in the 1930s, but nothing definitive was publicly reported. In the mid-1970s and culminating in 1981, Jose Ramos-Pinto Rosas along with his young nephew Joao Nicolau Almeida (of Ramos-Pinto) batch planted varieties to study and came up with a "Top 5" that was similar to what Yeatman concluded, as well as what is still considered the best Port grapes today.

There were nearly 90 grapes (white and red) which are allowed to be planted in the demarcated Douro region. Richard Mayson reports that 29 of these are "recommended" while the rest are merely "authorized."