PORT CALL
With three Sundays left until Christmas, it is time to survey one of the most overworked Christmas wines - port.
Port was famously an invention of adversity and war. The conflict in question took place in 1698 and comprised a blockade of French ports by English ships followed by a declaration of war. Strong historical links between Bordeaux and England - Eleanor of Aquitaine was the mother of Richard the Lionheart - meant such action did not usually affect wine delivery. But this particular blockade was effective and wine shipments to England soon ...
