The Portologist - Crafting Port Wine Cocktails

An illustrated book by Ruud Scholten, with recipes from internationally renowned mixologists

Port is one of Portugal’s most iconic wines. Grapes from the hot Douro valley produce this seductive, richly flavoured beverage. With a history stretching back centuries, port wine is more than just a drink. It connects you with a landscape, a time and a place.

But Port wine isn’t just delicious on its own. It’s the perfect foil for crafting unique and characterful cocktails. Take the locals’ little secret, a white port and tonic, as an example: it’s perfection in the summer, light and flavourful and without the knock-out effect of distilled alcohol. Port wine comes in many different styles and flavours, from easygoing fruity ruby, to complex, mysterious tawny and refreshing chip dry white. At the same strength as most liqueurs, port gives the mixologist unlimited scope to create tasty and original drinks.

The Portologist is ready to mix you a cocktail like you never had before. These are mixed drinks that transport you to a beautiful valley and connect you with hundreds of years of heritage. Port is the perfect basis for a huge variety of flavours, pairing the perfect amount of sweetness with texture, complexity and balance.

The Portologist curates 50 recipes ranging from reinvented classics like the Port Negroni, to brand new creations from some of the world’s most innovative mixologists. You’ll find sparkling cocktails, long drinks, seasonal specialities and even sweet delights that pair with or replace a dessert..

As you experiment with these delicious creations, we’ll take you deep into the Douro valley and the historic port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia. Discover port’s different categories, how they’re produced and how they taste. The Portologist goes way beyond the environment of the cocktail bar and introduces you to the treasures of the Douro, its spectacular terraces and its wild plants.

With 50 specially commissioned photos, beautiful layout and design, The Portologist isn’t just another cocktail recipe book. We explore the detail about every ingredient, digging into the story of port wine and the people who craft it. The mixologist just went to the next level: The Portologist.