If I say “white fish”, what Portuguese wine comes to mind? Possibly a crisp, dry Alvarinho? Maybe you’d even go so far to include an Alentejo white made from Arinto or Antao Vaz? All fair combinations, but I doubt you would ever say, “hey, what about a light, refreshing Port wine!” At least I hope you don’t, or else we’ve failed miserably at our job to educate you on the very basics of what Port is - definitely not light and refreshing, nor would I ever suggest you paired it with white fish. Yuck! Go with chocolate.

But over a century ago, two crazy Norwegians saw a void in the market which they couldn’t ignore. In 1865, Theodor Wiese and Dankert Krohn began selling bacalhau (salt cod) to the Portuguese, and then turned right around to sell Port wine back to their native home of Norway. For those of you not familiar with Norway, it’s cold. Really cold! And to warm the body, and the soul, I can only imagine how Norwegians must have quickly succumbed to the unctuous and delicious Port wines. At least I can tell you that we had a glass, or three, of port wine while we were in Stavanger and felt it went beautifully with rich, meaty dishes such as their famous lamb.

Since the company’s formation, it has exchanged hands on more than occasion. In 1880, Wiese sold his share to Krohn out of respect for the company’s small size - still remaining a commercial agent in Norway. This helps explain why the brand is known as Krohn, but is still under the company name of Wiese and Krohn.

After Danker Krohn’s death in 1903, …

How many times have you heard yourself, or someone you know, say “Jeez, I’ve tried a couple of ports, but I’ve just never enjoyed them. They’re always so sweet and syrupy and just too much to enjoy”? If you were at dinner with us last night, you would have heard this at least half a dozen times. And with each utterance, I held myself back with sheer will power trying not to reach across the table, grabbing the guy by the lapels and say “Please tell me that you’ve tried every single style of port wine from several different producers, because if not, that is one massive generalization you’re making!” I’m pleased to say that I kept my cool, but I did learn one very important lesson: one month of port wine education can only do so much, but at least it’s a wonderful step towards breaking preconceived notions and mistruths as to what it is - a highly diverse style of wine that cannot fit neatly into a box and labeled ’sweet dessert wine’.

So, allow me to continue breaking down our assumptions of Port wine by introducing two styles that may be unfamiliar to you. Each of them fall outside of what we typically consider a “traditional” port wine, but both merit your attention.

LBV Port Wine
Don’t you love it when, yet another, acronym enters your life? I remember when I first heard the term ‘LBV’ and wondered if it was abbreviated because monolingual speakers like us tend to butcher most foreign names, but alas, there was no mystery. The name originated between the 1930’s and 1950’s, at the beginning of António de Oliveira Salazar’s dictatorship when Portugal suffered from a rather serious economic hardship. Therefore, any wine destined to become a …