England’s recognized authority on port wine for more than 20 years, Ben Howkins now provides the third edition of his best selling book on the subject. Long recognized as the one essential reference on port, this book is required reading for the wine education trust and other certification programs. This book offers a concise history of port and the port trade as it has developed over the last three-hundred years, describing the all-important features of the soil and climate of the Douro Valley, where the wine originates, the species of vine, the cycle-of work in the vineyards and the wine ‘‘lodges’’ where it matures before being shipped to its worldwide markets. This new edition covers the important changes in the ownership of the major growers and shippers, the advent of the many new single Quinta ports, the technological advances and notes on the most recent vintages. Other chapters deal with the pleasures of visiting Oporto and the Douro region and sampling its food and wine. Fortified wines of port character that are produced in other parts of the world are also discussed. Written in a pleasant, anecdotal style, this book conveys a wealth of valuable, up-to-date information of interest to the lover of wine, food and travel.