Uploaded to flickr by the Italian voice.

It’s late summer, and much of the United States is coping with sweltering heat. For wine-lovers, crisp whites or roses tend to be the go-to thirst quenchers.

But Robert Bower of the Taylor Fladgate Partnership in Portugal is trying to convince Americans to reach for a glass of port when the mercury rises.

Port? The syrupy, sweet after-dinner drink? Not exactly.

Bower and his team recently invited me to taste Croft Pink, the world’s first truly rosé port. And I must admit, it’s a fantastic summer beverage.

Croft Pink (SRP: $19.99) is best thought of as a primary ingredient for a cocktail, rather than a wine for sipping on its own. I had mine on the rocks with lemon slices and soda, in about a 50-50 ratio. It reminded me of Campari and soda, but sweeter. Bower offered that it tastes British, like a Pimm’s cocktail, and I could see that as well. Really, I could imagine it being a pleasurable accompaniment to an afternoon relaxing on the deck, on the rooftop, or dining alfresco in the city.

Other popular recipes include the Pink Jasmine, with jasmine tea and strawberries as the sidekicks, and Bubbles & Pink, with a sparkler, cointreau, and bitters.

Croft makes its rosé port just like a traditional rosé, leaving the crushed grapes in contact with the skins for 12 hours and then cold fermenting for seven days.

The Taylor Fladgate Partnership produces wine marketed under several labels, in addition to Croft. During my visit with Bower, I had the opportunity to try them — and to get a bit of a crash course in port.

The Partnership only makes port. It’s one of the oldest and largest port houses in the world. The partnership offers three key brands: Taylor, Fonseca, and Croft.

Bower described a bit of a schism in the production of port. Non-vintage ports are now made in two ways, he said — with pumps borrowed from the production of table wines and with new piston fermentation techniques developed in the 1990s. Taylor Fladgate is among the only port houses to use the new piston-fermenting technology, which more closely imitates the traditional foot-treading technique for macerating grapes.

Human treaders do still stomp on grapes in some cases, in the production of high-end vintage port.

One final background note. Port is, of course, fortified. Winemakers arrest the fermentation process that converts sugar into alcohol after only a few days by adding grape spirits to their vats or barrels. The incomplete fermentation accounts for the extra sugar that makes ports sweet. Bower told me that Taylor has made a pronounced effort to use high-quality grape spirits from France in the production of his ports.

Each label maintains a “home” vineyard of sorts that defines it — that gives it a distinctive style. Bower described his three main labels in Hollywood terms: Fonseca as Marilyn Monroe, Taylor as Audrey Hepburn, and Croft as Cate Blanchett.

I’ll share tasting notes for wines from three broad categories: ruby, vintage, and tawny.

Ruby ports are aged for relatively short times — usually some two to three years in vats that hold 100,000 liters.

Vintage ports are aged in bottle after two years in barrel. Vintages are “declared” two years after harvest, and there are generally only three declared vintages in a given decade. These can command the heftiest price premiums.

And tawny ports are aged for 10, 20, 30, or even 40 years in 600-liter neutral oak casks, which are significantly smaller than those used in the production of ruby port.

First up was the Bin No. 27 Fonseca Ruby (SRP: $18.99). If a port could be slutty, this would be it. Lush and velvety in the mouth, with black fruits, brown sugar, cassis, and cream. The fruits were still ripe and light — and a peppery finish.

Next up was a Taylor Fladgate Late Bottle Vintage from 2005 (SRP: $22.99). This one is bottled six years after entering the barrel. I found it angular, with forward movement in the mouth. The characteristic port flavors concentrated themselves on the tongue rather than in the recesses of the mouth.

Then we moved to the vintage ports.  First up was a 2009 Croft (SRP: $70). This one was a huge fruit bomb, with the raisin flavors characteristic of port, as well as some restrained chocolate-covered tannins and spicy sugar.

Next up, the 2009 Fonseca (SRP: $99). This one was very heavy in the mid-palate, with tannins prominent in the middle and some delicious textureA step up from the Croft.

And finally, some old tawnies. First, a Fonseca 10-year Tawny (SRP: $34.99). The “10-year” label refers to the average amount of time that the wine sits in the cask. I found this extremely nutty, with dried figs, hazelnut, and bright spice. It had lively acidity and bounced around my mouth. Superb.

Then a cousin — the Croft 10-year Tawny (SRP: $28.99). This was similar to the Fonseca but even darker and nuttier. The fruits here were a tad smoother and more monolithic.

We finished things out with a Taylor 20-year (SRP: $54.99). This has been the most popular bottling among Taylor Fladgate’s offerings for the past 10 years. I found it nutty to the point of pushing the fruits to a red, light side. Notes of apricot, honey, and butterscotch featured. The wine was very soft, elegant, and spicy — just a relaxing experience.