Wine Enthusiast Magazine
SubscribeUnReserved has selected a winner in the American port-naming contest. In an uncanny trans-continental mind-meld, the editorial committee at Wine Enthusiast magazine in Elmsford, N.Y, and yours truly in Napa Valley, Calif., chose the same name as their favorite.
The winner of two Riedel port glasses will be revealed in a moment, but first let us summarize the protean efforts of so many who submitted names to help the makers of port-style fortified wines in the U.S. who are now banned by an agreement between the European Union and the United States from calling any of their new ports Port.
Unreserved readers posted 51 comments before the deadline at midnight Oct. 27, proposing a total of 79 terms to describe the fortified (neutral spirits added to a level of about 18 percent alcohol), sweet, rich dessert wine associated with fireplaces, stilton cheese and walnuts, chocolate and cigars.
The goal was for readers to coin a term that felt like “Port” but didn’t sound too much like it. Lots of people suggested variations on Port, including Trop (port backwards, posted first by Joanne Marks), Porto Novo (new port, by Susan Edwards), Ameriport (Dawn), etc. But we didn’t vote for them because they’re likely to be challenged in court for being too derivative.
A lot of people proposed terms in Portuguese, which was clever, including Curado (cured, or made strong, by David Rodriguez) and Mais Tarde (afterward, by Chris) but we thought since this will be a term for American wines it shouldn’t sound too foreign.
A few of the suggestions seemed to have been inspired by consumption of significant quantities of the beverage in question. Stuart Miller submitted two variations on a term that he says means “having well shaped buttocks” — Calipygio and Callipygian.
Having considered all the variations, though, we chose Forto, submitted by Bradfield as the winner. Bradfield says it represents the best of Porto (or Oporto, the port city in Portugal that’s the center of the Port trade) and Forte (meaning strong, a term already used by Scott Harvey Wines in California for its port-style wine).
Congratulations to Bradfield, who will receive as a prize two beautiful Riedel port glasses from Wine Enthusiast, and whatever measure of fame this blog can provide.
Thanks to everybody for participating. The number of comments was gratifying, and I might have learned some Portuguese along the way.
Filed under: Industry Issues
8 Comments
November 9th, 2007 at 10:37:08 PM
Dear Jim,
Congratulations to Bradfield and to you Jim for creating a superb contest!
Warm Regards,
Adam
November 11th, 2007 at 5:33:39 AM
With Catavino doing a whole month of port this is a fun article to run into. We’ll make sure to mention it.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:00:37 PM
Ryan, I did notice your port spotlight, so to speak, and was going to mention this you! Glad you ran into it anyway.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:42:51 AM
It’s the first time I found your blog and soon was absorbed by this dainty re-name tale. You must have known it that Forto is a vocabulary from Esperanto the international language, nice pick.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:46:15 PM
Jim,
saludos desde Mendoza, Argentina. Just catching up, I’m flattered to find yr kind mention of my efforts. Thanks, & congrats to the winner– the best ideas are sometimes so obvious in retrospect!
I just tried a very good version of a local ‘Malbec encabezado’ (‘fortified’, literally umm– ‘given a head’!) fairly dry, in contrast to Zuccardi’s dense & sweet ‘Malamado’, being intensely marketed here & in Argentine restaurants back home in Puerto Rico.
I actually have a Steele Zin err, ‘Forto’ waiting for my return to California in refrigerated storage in Atascadero!
Happy Holidays & enjoy your new-found Strength! (ouch)
–DJR
January 14th, 2008 at 10:55:39 PM
That’s funny.. I was doing a research regarding my family name and found this article. Anyway, my family name is: “FORTO”
Congratulations to the winner! :)
January 15th, 2008 at 12:11:09 AM
Azer: Thanks for joining in. Do you mind sharing what your ethnic/cultural background is, and what Forto represents in that background?
May 28th, 2008 at 4:56:09 PM
Hi Jim,
I was born and raised in the Angeles City, Philippines… that made me a “Filipino”… lol! As far as I know, our family name is originated in Spain. Forto means: force, strength and vigour.
Hope that answered your questions. :)
Azer