How port is made
The grapes are crushed on the estate, traditionally by foot by nowadays by mechanical means, in shallow vats called lagars. The following spring, the wine is moved down to the port-shippers' lodges in Vila Nova di Gaia. For centuries, the most efficient way to do this was down the river on barcos rabelos, with the loss of hundreds of lives and innumerable barrels of wine in the treacherous currents. Now the wine is driven down on roads like silk.
In the extensive cellars of the port-shippers’ lodges, the wine is left to mature for a year in vast barrels called pipes. In the second year, the blending process begins, with the port-shippers evaluating and blending wines from hundreds of pipes. After some months, the final blend is ready and it is submitted to the Instituto do Vinho do Porto for approval. The Instituto analyses and tastes a sample from every port shipment. When approval is given, the port is bottled for sale, and the Instituto's official black-and-white seal is attached to the neck of each bottle.