Kopke and chocolates in the oldest port wine house in Porto.

Thanks to last night's tastings at Vinología, I was able to choose a style of port I was familiar with when I went to Kopke today.  I chose to have a semi sweet white port since that was the style I preferred last night. 
A success! This Kopke Fine White Port is well balanced between tang (acidity), sweet, and spice (alcohol).  Just divine.  The best part is, Kopke gives an assortment of chocolates to be enjoyed alongside each glass of port. 

White ports are traditionally, and almost exclusively, young ports that are produced from white grapes.  Interesting since this is not always the case for many white dinner wines.  There are a variety of aging periods and ranges of sweetness in white ports. Typically the aging period is around 3 years... Kopke will soon stretch this norm with their newest, not yet released product. 

Kopke was founded in 1638 by a German guy - named Kopke.  Since then the company has switched hands a few times and is now owned by the Sogevinus group. Generally I enjoy smaller family owned producers, but on this side of the river it's all about big production and that's not going to stop me from enjoying a glass or two.  It's also a great place to learn about the history and production.  As I mentioned, white ports are traditionally young, aged for around 3 years or so, and are served chilled as an apéritif (to drink before the meal).  Kopke is first to come out with a product that challenges this tradition: a 10 year White Port.  

The color difference is incredible, but don't be fooled, it is made completely from white grapes.  This bomb of a drink tastes more like brandy than sweet wine to me and my waitress gives me a middle ground just to compare. 

Here I've got the new Kopke 10 year White Port, the Branco Lima (their sweetest white currently for sale), and my semi sweet fine white... I think I'll stick with the semi sweets. 

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