List of products by brand KOPKE

Kopke is one of the most awarded and prestigious producers of aged Colheita Port and Tawny. The company, founded in 1638 by Christiano and Nicolau Kopke, is the oldest wine brand and in Villanova de Gaia rests over one hundred thousand barrels of Port Wine. This immense inventory of old vintages, the largest and deepest in Portugal, has made Kopke the leading producer of Colheita Port and Tawny.

Port was born in the 17th century as a result of the Franco-English War. At that time the importation of French wines into England was prohibited and subsequently William III imposed a punitive tax on French wines. As a result, the English wine markets considered alternatives and Portugal was a nation with excellent relations with the English crown. Disliking the light wines of the coast, English merchants began to venture inland discovering the full-bodied wines of the Douro. To ensure that the wine did not spoil during transport they began to add brandy to stabilize it. At this time it was still a dry wine and was only fortified after fermentation. Everything changed in 1678 when a wine merchant from Liverpool arrived in Lamego. Here he discovered a monastery of Cistercian monks who added brandy during fermentation rather than at the end. The result was a full-bodied, alcoholic and sweet red wine which over the years became Port Wine. The wine produced in the Douro Valley was put into barrels and loaded onto small ships which, travelling up the Douro River, arrived in Porto. There the wine was left to mature in the merchants' warehouses (Lodges). Today the main Port producers are still located in Villanova de Gaia and it is there that Kopke ages his wines.