During the Georgian and Victorian eras, port was widely considered the definitive drink of English gentlemen. This custom has passed through centuries. The British banker, financier, and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore drank port wine regularly. In his final months, he biography notes that he lived almost entirely on a diet of milk and port.
He famously drank one bottle of port wine every single day and lived to the remarkable age of 100. According to accounts published by his descendants, including wine historian Adam Montefiore on his official website, Sir Moses even requested and enjoyed three final glasses of port on his deathbed just before passing away in 1885.
His custom of drinking a full bottle daily was well-known among his contemporaries. Tongue-in-cheek accounts from the era often attributed his extreme longevity to this exact habit.
In his youth, Montefiore and his wife Judith drank a wide variety of wines. However, after his first trip to the Holy Land in 1827—when he became strictly religious—port became his absolute tipple of choice. There was then a Sephardic community in the city of Porto, which collaborated with the local wine industry to ensure that the production of Port wine complied with all Jewish rules.
Moses Montefiori and his wife were renowned members of the Portuguese and Spanish community in London. Unable to resurrect the wine Montefiori drank, the Jewish Community of Porto made an effort to find the bottles from that time, which are now on display in the city's Jewish museum.
