Port wine still made by mashing grapes with bare feet
Douro valley, famous for producing the well known Port wine is being redeveloped as a major Portuguese tourism attraction focussed on the spectacular river cruising and vineyards that cover the slopes on both banks of the river.
Port wine is a major Portuguese export and France is their main market with a quota of 26.3 per cent. But the Port industry has close links with the UK as well that dates back to more than 400 years.
Last year 10.4 million cases were sold, one per cent more than 2004. Port image is firmly one of the British drink, lingering on in such names as Sandeman, Churchill Graham and Cockburn.
"Port represents an important exports of this country, but more importantly then just export it is the flag of Portugal. We are one of the oldest wine regions in the world. We have history of selling Port wine for over 300 years. We are a family business and no we are exporting to over 55 countries," said Adrian Bridge of Taylor's Port house.
Port wine, an industry with 300 of sometimes turbulent history behind it, conjures up images of crystal decanters and oak casks. But as the business enters the 21st century, it is steeped in tradition.
After years of research and experimentation, Port companies have succeeded in perfecting the holy grail they have been seeking for generations. A robotic system that treads grapes perfectly, tireless and cleanly.
Taylor and Fonsecas House has taken a slightly different route by installing piston plungers in their fermentation vats.
This achieves the same goal of moving the grape skins up and down in the juice, extracting more flavour than the usual winemaking system.
"Here at Taylor wine cellar we are at forth found of technology wine making, what is a very traditional wine region, where for centuries the food treading was the principal form of making our Port wine. However in recent years with shortage of labour and with costs of labour increasing, we have design our own fermentation tanks which replicate the quality of the food and all of the magic that was done for us in the past," David Guimaraes, mastermind of the new technology at Sao Joao Da Pesqueira Cellar said.
However, the advance of the robots does not mean an-end to the age-old tradition of treading.
Last year 10.4 million cases were sold, one per cent more than 2004. Port image is firmly one of the British drink, lingering on in such names as Sandeman, Churchill Graham and Cockburn.
"Port represents an important exports of this country, but more importantly then just export it is the flag of Portugal. We are one of the oldest wine regions in the world. We have history of selling Port wine for over 300 years. We are a family business and no we are exporting to over 55 countries," said Adrian Bridge of Taylor's Port house.
Port wine, an industry with 300 of sometimes turbulent history behind it, conjures up images of crystal decanters and oak casks. But as the business enters the 21st century, it is steeped in tradition.
After years of research and experimentation, Port companies have succeeded in perfecting the holy grail they have been seeking for generations. A robotic system that treads grapes perfectly, tireless and cleanly.
Taylor and Fonsecas House has taken a slightly different route by installing piston plungers in their fermentation vats.
This achieves the same goal of moving the grape skins up and down in the juice, extracting more flavour than the usual winemaking system.
"Here at Taylor wine cellar we are at forth found of technology wine making, what is a very traditional wine region, where for centuries the food treading was the principal form of making our Port wine. However in recent years with shortage of labour and with costs of labour increasing, we have design our own fermentation tanks which replicate the quality of the food and all of the magic that was done for us in the past," David Guimaraes, mastermind of the new technology at Sao Joao Da Pesqueira Cellar said.
However, the advance of the robots does not mean an-end to the age-old tradition of treading.
