Port Wine Visual Communication: Traces of Posters from the Past in the Current Urban Environment

Abstract

Port wine is one of the most famous national ambassadors in the world. Its origin is local, but its reputation is global and benefits from exceptional connotations. Although based on the attributes of wine, the visual commercial discourses play an unavoidable role in the creation of a symbolic framework that reverberates in the collective imagination both within and beyond borders. Since the XIX century Port wine posters have been a tangible part of this phenomenon; they represent a printed visual heritage, where the reality of the product is blended with commercial argumentation. The impetus of graphic communication, as a business auxiliary operational tool, has been developing alongside the sector itself, adapting to the context of action and in a perspective of approaching the consumer market—of the drink and, more recently, tourism. Based on a database of Port wine posters conceived within the scope of a master investigation and on some selected photographic records made during the course of the research, the article presents an observation exercise that highlights recognizable visual references in the ‘traditional posters’ of the past converted into more recent communication media that can be identified as ‘posters of today’, found in Oporto and its surroundings. The main objective is to understand how the Port wine communication transports and transforms its visual heritage into other physical media, with focus on the Sandeman, Porto Cruz and Ramos Pinto brands. Following this path, the article aims to contribute to the recognition of particular forms of expression in both traditional and present-day communication of Port wine.