At this time, when so much interest is taken in the culture of the grape, and its manufacture into wine, together with opinions respecting grapes adapted to the production of certain classes of wine, and the manufacture thereof, with or without the addition of anything to the juice, a slight sketch of the vine district in which the Port wines are produced, and somewhat of its manufacture, may not perhaps be found uninteresting. These sketches, my readers will please remember, are made from my readings - I not having been so fortunate as to have visited the region described in person - and they may be in some points imperfect, but generally, I think, truthfuL

The first use of Port wine in England was exclusively as a medicine, supposed about three centuries since, and was then produced on the banks of the Lima, a river running into the sea at Viana, Portugal, where the first British merchants settled, and from whence they shipped it to England. Afterward, it was discovered that the grapes grown on the banks of the Douro produced a richer and far more generous wine, and soon the merchants engaged in the trade settled at Oporto, from whence the trade has continued to this day. The amount of the vintage in 1749 was estimated at about 50,000 pipes, which has increased so that now it is rated at over 130,000 pipes.

Fig. 40. - View on the Douro.