Port wine
was traditionally transported by small boats called rabelos.
Enjoyed for centuries as an aperitif or dessert wine, Port is a fortified wine that takes its named from the place of its invention, the Portuguese city of Porto. Porto is at the mouth of the 560-mile-long Rio Douro (River of Gold). Port wine was traditionally conveyed to the city from vineyards along the Douro by small transport ships known as Rabelos that were specially designed for river's often-treacherous conditions.
History of Port
Port wine was introduced in the 17th century when the import of wine into Portugal halted after Britain declared war on France and blocked ships from entering or exiting French ports. With Britain now looking to Portugal to supply wine, wines made from grapes taken from vineyards along the fertile Douro river were used. British merchants would often add "a bucket or two" of brandy to the wine barrels, leading to rich, fortified wine that was very different from French varieties. Before being shipped to England in seagoing vessels, the barrels were first transported in rabelos that brought the wine to Porto.
Rabelos
With its small size and flat bottom, a rabelo served the purpose of overcoming the river's natural obstacles to ease a dangerous journey that could last more than a week. The construction of a rabelo is similar to that of a Nordic Viking ship, with the hull shaped in planking before wooden ribs are fitted. No molds are used, with pieces fitted together using basic measurements taken by a master craftsman.
Rabelos Today
With the advent of railway and highway transportation, the traditional rabelo gradually became economically unfeasible as a means of transport; the last time Port was shipped along the Douro by rabelo was in 1964. Nowadays, the only thing that rabelos transport are tourists, in much the same way gondolas are used in the Italian city of Venice. An organization of Porto Port merchants called the Confraria do Vinho do Porto (Port Wine Brotherhood) hosts the annual Rabelo Boat Roace. Held every June 24 (the date of the Feast of Saint John, patron saint of Porto), traditional rabelos race from the mouth of the Douru river to the city's D. Luis Bridge in what has become one of the city's top tourist attractions.
"Architecture of Rabelo"
In 1992, a documentary entitled "Architecture of Rabelo" chronicled the attempt of a group of Portuguese naval carpenters to construct a rabelo using the traditional methods, tools and materials from hundreds of years before. The documentary, made in collaboration with naval archeology researcher Octávio Lixa Filgueiras, documents the step-by-step construction of a rabelo in what will likely be the last visual document of how these vessels were traditionally built.
Tags: Port wine, along Douro, Architecture Rabelo, construction rabelo, fortified wine, fortified wine that
