PORT - THE ENGLISH DRINK

“I  meet people who tell me they have a particular vintage port that they are saving for a special occasion. They wait and wait – and finally may never get to drink it! I prefer to open and enjoy. That’s what its for," says Adrian Bridge, who knows something about the matter, as the man who heads up one of Portugal’s top port wine companies.

Ex-army, ex-investment banker and now responsible for the fine port names of Taylor’s, Croft and Fonseca under the Fladgate umbrella, Adrian Bridge looks the quintessential Englishman.

Based in the port capital of Douro in Portugal, he follows in a long line of Englishmen who have made this their home and port wine the drink long appreciated by English gentlemen.

He concedes that there is investment value in port, however, and that the good years of Taylor’s and other fine ports realise excellent prices at auctions.

In an industry where vintage is important, Taylor’s own pedigree is immaculate. It can trace its history right back to one of the first English merchants to settle in Portugal, Job Bearsley, in 1692. The first Taylor took over in 1826, joined later by a Mr Yeatman and then Mr Fladgate.

Today’s family management can trace their ancestory back to these early founders. And their names remain, in that of the new hotel they have opened in Oporto, The Yeatman, and in the company name, The Fladgate Partnership. This encompasses other fine ports acquired along the way, Croft and Fonseca.

An early enthusiast for port wine, Bridge began visiting the Croft estates in Portugal in the 1980s when he was in his twenties, helping with the harvest.  His subsequent marriage to Natasha, daughter of the then chief executive, Alistair Robertson, was clearly one made in heaven.

“I was invited by my father-in-law to join the company in 1994,” he explains, some five years after his marriage to Natasha. He took over the reins in 2000 and in addition to further developing the company’s commitment to the premium end of the port market, also took on designing the company’s new hotel.

This is The Yeatman, right in the heart of Oporto, which opened in 2010, and is a monument to environmental endeavour.

“It was a lot of work, but enormous fun. As a new build, I could put in environmentally sound aspects, use solar energy, and underneath the croquet lawn we have great storage tanks that take and treat all the water from the hotel. It is a modern building, with lots of colour and splendid views of the port,  but it incorporates traditional Portuguese details, and has wine features. The pool, for example, is shaped like a decanter.”

At top, Adrian Bridge; above, a magnificent bed for port dreamers at the Yeatman hotel; below the hotel's pool, looking out over Douro harbour.

But whilst he oversaw every aspect of the hotel, Bridge has meantime been no slouch on the port side of the company ship. He has consolidated its position at the top of the premier league of ports, with Britain one of the top markets.

“In the UK, more people are drinking port. Historically, when the economy is weaker, more entertaining is done at home – and more port is drunk after dinner! It also continues to be favoured by the huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ fraternity and younger consumers are also appreciating it. The UK goes for the quality ports, the vintages, the strong brands, whereas the rest of Europe is not so quality conscious.”

He points to the recent addition to their products of Croft Pink as helping to extend port’s appeal, particularly at a young level, as an aperitif over ice or as a cocktail base.

“The founder of Croft, John Croft, declared that port had two main requirements: ‘Its first duty is to be red; its second is to be drunk,’ he admits wryly.

What that Croft would have made of the pink one is hard to tell, but the company has always been keen on development – and has long produced a white port, though this is little appreciated in the UK.

“We haven’t spent time promoting it,” Bridge explains, “simply because we have plenty to do educating new consumers on our red port.  There are always new ones coming along, and we have tastings, and work with restaurants, and give guidance on the internet about choosing port. Major buyers come out to Portugal. I go back and forth.”

It’s a lifestyle that many might envy, combining a longtime interest with a rewarding business that is shared with his wife. She is head taster at Croft and born and brought up in the rich atmosphere of Duoro’s port wine traditions. The next generation – two boys and a girl – are at school in England, and though there are no expectations that they will come into the business, Bridge clearly hopes so.

And his final advice for those keen to improve their wine knowledge?

“Spend a moment each time you try a new wine. Savour it and try to think what flavours you can identify. Think why you like it. Read the label and start to remember those that you like. And you will very quickly assemble an appreciation of what appeals.”