2011 Croft

Like most of the prestigious Port producers, Croft traces its roots back several centuries to entrepreneurs from Britain. The company takes its name from John Croft, who joined the firm in 1736. Croft came from a family of Yorkshire wine merchants and in 1788 he wrote a treatise called the Wines of Portugal which remains one of the most useful historical documents about the history of Port. In 1911 the Croft Port estate was sold to the Gilbeys, an English family of wine merchants. Today the company is owned and operated by the Yeatman and Fladgate families, both long established in the Port business. Croft makes an array of Vintage Ports, as well as Tawny and White Port.

Portugal is best known for its two legendary fortified wines, Port and Madeira, but it also produces significant amounts of red and white table wine. In most years it ranks around the 10th or 11th largest wine producer in the world. In 2013, for instance, Portugal was the 11th largest producer just after Germany. Wine has always been produced in Portugal and in fact the country was the first to organize an appellation system, which it did in 1756, nearly 200 years before the French set up their appellations. The highest quality wines are labeled D.O.C. for Denominaçào de Origem Controlada. Many of the most innovative winemakers today, however, are avoiding the appellation system, which they deem too stifling for modern winemaking practices. The Douro Valley is the nation’s most important wine producing region, and it is the capital of Port production. The Portuguese island of Madeira, located 400 miles west of Morocco, is the nation’s other famous wine region, having produced Madeira for export for more than 400 years. Many red and white wine grapes grow in Portugal, though the best known is Touriga Nacional, the red grape used for Port and, increasingly, high quality table wines. Touriga Nacional produces dark, tannic, fruity wines.