Successfully representing multiple facets of the 300-year history of the Port wine industry in a single film is a formidable challenge. British-born, U.S.-based David Kennard, the prolific documentary filmmaker, shows he is up to the task. The result is engaging cinema that informs in an entertaining manner. I highly recommend to any interested wine lover “A Year in Port,” which completes Kennard's trilogy of wine films.Footnote ¹

Over the course of a year, the film tells the story of Port wine through the perspectives of a few families that dominate production in Porto. This approach allows industry personalities to drive the narrative and highlight certain aspects of the beverage that fuels the economic engine of the Douro Valley (where the grapes are grown) and the city of Porto (where Port wine is produced). The access granted by the families provides the film with exclusive interviews, intimate family gatherings, executive meetings, and close views of Port wine production. Striking cinematography, particularly of stunning terraced Douro Valley vineyards, and an evocative musical score contribute to a very enjoyable viewer experience.

In periods of the 17th and 18th centuries, when conflict with France closed it as a primary source of exports to Britain, the latter turned to its long-time ally Portugal to quench its thirst for wine. Potential spoilage of table wine during its voyage on sailing ships led merchants to seek to trade more stable fortified wine. Red wines fortified with brandy better withstood shipment from Portugal and found an eager reception in Britain. These full-bodied sweet Port wines grew in popularity, and eventually expanded to a global audience.

Port's role in preserving deeply held traditions, particularly those of Great Britain, emphasizes its cultural relevance. The film offers an insider view of lively British society events like the Worshipful Company of Distillers’ leadership installation ceremony and a Royal Navy celebration featuring Port and chocolate model ships—both consumed with gusto. The documentary notes that even today, toasts to the Queen are typically made with Port wine.

Much of the pleasure in watching the picture emerges from its interwoven storylines in the Port wine business, through the challenges of production and management, punctuated by moments of levity, celebration, and appreciation. The film builds dramatic tension by underscoring contrasting opinions among Port makers on strategic choices, key production decisions, and market assessments.

Dirk Niepoort's charismatic persona elevates the film. A third-generation winemaker at his family's eponymous wine house, his passion for winemaking infuses his conversations. For instance, he describes the highly subjective process of blending recent, aged, and ancient fortified wines to attain new heights of quality: “Blending is like psychology … you have to understand the wine and understand the vineyard. Then you can use the strength of that wine to emphasize the character of the whole blend. Small quantities can make a miracle. Blending is an art, where 2+2 does not equal 4. It can equal 10, or 12.”

Niepoort respects the traditional Port wine that has supported his family business for generations, while also promoting innovation and “rule breaking.” His firm complements traditional Port production with the creation of table (unfortified) wines, a controversial practice among Port producers, and characterizes future possibilities of deploying some of the 400 varieties of native Portuguese grapes as “fantastic.”

This personifies the central tension of whether traditional Port wine houses that have specialized in the beverage for centuries should branch out to produce table wines. The old guard Port producers favor concentrating their efforts on producing high-quality Port alone, while Niepoort and allies believe that table wines not only have a rightful place in the portfolios of Port houses but may eventually surpass Port. The appropriate strategy appears driven by a producer's relative position in the Port market, its growth outlook, and its risk appetite. An economist might observe that Portuguese producers have a strong comparative advantage in the lucrative Port wine market they originated and still dominate, while Portuguese table wine producers from the Douro Valley or Porto have a steep climb to gain even a modest share of the highly competitive global wine market. However, economics alone rarely guides an innovative winemaker's investment decisions—which may be to the benefit of wine lovers everywhere.

The economics of the Port wine business appear uncommon. Port wine, especially vintage and aged tawny Ports, are premium beverages that earn substantial revenues. Port produced in other countries may attain comparable levels of quality but lack the authenticity and cachet of the Portuguese product. Barriers to entry in Portugal are high, as Port houses need large inventories of recent and older vintages of Port on the production premises to use in new blends, which themselves may be aged for years or decades before they are brought to market. This helps to constrain supply and support prices.

At the same time, viticultural practices in the Douro Valley contribute to high production costs. The steep mountains towering above the valley make production highly labor-intensive and costly. The vineyards’ sharp pitch can limit or preclude the use of mechanized equipment and require the construction and maintenance of multilevel terraces that enable the vines to grow on level slivers of terrain. These attributes make the viticulture suitable for high-value Port wines, but perhaps less appropriate for table wines, which typically do not attract the prices that warrant such costly production methods.

Although the documentary does not mention it, the beneficio system is part of this dynamic. The system limits the quantity of Port production, as determined by the industry regulator—the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto—in each declared vintage, with the intention of supporting prices, maintaining quality, and avoiding market saturation. It typically results in a surplus of grapes which may be used for table wine production.

The documentary honors the past and celebrates the present of the Port industry. The future appears secure but tinged with uncertainty. It notes that a rising revenue trend masks a recent declining global sales volume pattern, as consumer preferences evolve. One industry player suggests that the future may bring tighter Port supply constraints and greater market concentration.

Today, some leading Port producers still employ traditional production techniques, such as harvesting by hand, crushing by foot, and fermenting in large granite lagars, all illustrated in the film. This approach contributes to its image as a classical, Old World product honoring tradition and history. At the same time, the industry has taken steps to modernize and appeal to younger palates by creating new styles (e.g., rosé Port), promoting creative pairings with food (think tawny Port with Peking Duck or tiramisu), and encouraging Port as a cocktail ingredient (Port Old-fashioned or Port sangria) that underscore its adaptability. Such initiatives might strengthen the interest of more experienced imbibers as well.

One critique is the film's relatively uncritical view, which gives it a promotional quality, as much as an explicative one. For instance, it generally portrays the numerous stakeholders in the production, distribution, and consumption process as smoothly functioning links in a chain. It depicts them as family businesses, at times marked by friendly debates, but without real conflict or villains. Labor-management relations during the grueling harvest and grape treading periods appear amicable, despite the extraordinarily long days of strenuous exertion. Given the exceptional access granted to the filmmakers, it seems reasonable to ask if the subjects of the film were granted a measure of editorial influence, perhaps to ensure they be cast in a favorable light.

This question aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and learned a good deal. That evening it inspired me to savor a glass of tawny Port in the name of research to ponder drafting this review. In my experience, research has rarely brought such an immediate reward.