Richard Mayson is a champion of a wine culture and a fresh authoritative voice in wine literature Hugh Johnson. This book provides essential reference to the world's greatest fortified wine and its region of origin. Richard Mayson is the first author to place port in context by recounting the intruiging history of port wine and the Douro region up to the present day. There is indepth information on the region's topography and its vineyards and grape varieties, and an assessment of the key quintas of the Douro. All aspects of port production and the range of styles - from white to ruby to vintage - are described and discussed in full. Also included is a directory of port producers and shippers and an assessment of vintages back to 1896. Mayson concludes with a valuable insight into the prospects for port and the Douro in the twenty-first century.