The fermentation stops before all the sugar in the juice has been turned into alcohol and some of the natural sweetness of the grape is thus preserved in the finished wine. Taylor pays close attention to the quality of the brandy that it uses and its wine making team works very closely with the specialised distillers who supply it to ensure that the spirit is of the highest standard.
The quality of the brandy is very important. As the wine ages, the spirit and the wine will combine in a magical synergy which will contribute to the subtle complexity of the mature Port. In former times the Port wine would travel down the river Douro to the coast in special wine boats called barcos rabelos but nowadays it travels overland by road. Before it is taken to the ageing lodges, each wine is evaluated and a decision taken as to the style of Port for which it will be used.
It will then be placed in casks or vats, as appropriate, to begin the ageing process. Port, being fortified and a wine of remarkable ageing potential and longevity, can remain in wood for much longer than most other wines.
This means that it can be aged in different ways and for different periods to produce a wide range of different styles. This diversity of different styles is one of the most fascinating aspects of Port, making it one of the most diverse and adaptable of all wines. Chip Dry Fine White. Port Wine What is port wine?
When to serve Port? However, most of the port houses will have single quinta when a vintage is not declared. This means that although exclusive, they are not always as expensive as a Vintage. The smaller quintas can essentially, produce a Single Quinta Vintage whenever they feel they have enough grapes of high enough quality. Tawnies start their lives as ruby ports but lose their deep red colour due to their aging.
As they age, they turn from deep ruby, to amber orange, before reaching their typical golden-brown colour. Unlike rubies, tawnies will typically be aged in smaller wooden casks of between litres called pipes.
The smaller casks are used to allow a gentle exposure to oxygen. This exposure is what imparts flavours described as dried fruit, caramel, or nuts to the wine. At the lower end of the scale is the typical Tawny Port and it will be labelled without an indication of age. In this case it will usually be a blend of wines that has spent around three years in oak barrels.
Above this you have Reserve Tawny Port. After reserve tawny, you have aged tawny. These tawny ports will have the age of the blend on the bottle. They come in 10, 20, 30 and 40 year ages. For example, a year tawny can be made of a blend of 5 and 20 year aged wine.
In most cases, aged tawnies will continue to be tested and blended to fit the house style. To newcomers to port wine, we often recommend starting with a year aged tawny. Colheita is the Portuguese word for harvest, and similarly to a vintage it refers to a specific harvest year. Originally, Colheitas were produced by the Portuguese port houses in an attempt to create an exclusive tawny to rival the vintage rubies.
With their success, came replication and now many of the other port houses produce their own colheita. Two dates will appear on the label, the specific year of harvest and the year of bottling. As the name implies, white port is made from a variety of white grapes and can be made in a range from very dry to very sweet styles.
It usually has the sweetness of a ruby port without retaining as much of the body. White port comes in a range of sweetness ranging from Doce Sweet to Seco Dry. In between you have Meio Doce half sweet , and at the other end is Extra Seco very dry. At the very sweetest end you have Lagrima which is described as muito doce or very sweet. They usually have at least g of sugar per litre of wine and are as sweet as they sound. Whereas a white port offers the sweetness of a ruby while being light and retaining the aged fruit and honey flavours.
Cut off from its traditional supplier of wine in France, the British began to look for another wine supplier to fulfill its needs. The Treaty of Methuen in would result in low import duties on wine from Portugal, during times of war with France. From here, there are two stories about the creation and popularity of Vinho do Porto. The first is based on exporting wine by long distance. Unfortunately, the distance by sea between Portugal and England was much longer than between France and England, and much of the wine was spoiled during the long journey.
To remedy this, the wine producers began adding additional alcohol during its production. As described above, this alcohol, increased the alcoholic content of the wine, and increased the final sugar content of it too.
This stronger and sweeter wine was able to survive longer without spoiling and became quite a hit in England. The second, is a more personal story of two English merchants on holiday in the Douro region. While there, they would be invited to dinner with the Abbot of Lamego. The merchants would be so pleased with this wine that they purchased his entire stock of it there and then.
With a promise to return and buy more. This high ABV is one reason why you usually only see Port served in small portions. As with all winemaking , Port production begins once the grapes are harvested.
The grapes are pressed to extract the juice and begin the fermentation process. If the winemaker fortifies the wine before fermentation is finished, the result is more residual sugar that creates a sweet wine. By contrast, if the winemaker adds the spirits after the fermentation process is complete, the result is a dry fortified wine with less sugar. Oftentimes, young Port wines are aged in large oak barrels for about 18 months.
That said, some Port producers bypass the oak casks and let the wine age in the bottle. Depending on different winemaking factors, you can end up with a sweet and complex Port wine or a drier and brighter variety. For the most part, Ports are full-bodied, sweet red wines with notes of berries, caramel, cinnamon, and chocolate.
In other words, just as with other types of wines , Port comes in a wonderful variety of styles to suit your tastes. In fact, there are 52 varieties of Port wine. As if we needed to tell you how to enjoy wine , there are some finer points that will help you appreciate the experience even more. In that spirit, here are some tips on how to savor Port wine, including the best temperature for serving it, its best food pairings, and the type of glass you want to use.
When it comes to wine temperature , it might surprise you to learn that Port wine isn't best served at room temperature. If you serve high-alcohol wine too warm, it'll result in a burning sensation similar to drinking a shot of rum or whiskey.
If you have a full-bodied Port, serve it at 60 degrees to 65 degrees. If you have a lighter Port, serve it at 55 degrees to 60 degrees. Either way, a good rule of thumb for serving red wine is to refrigerate the bottle for 30 minutes before you open it. Then, you can decant the bottle or pour the first glass. Allow the wine to breathe and warm on the table for 10 minutes before enjoying.
Port is considered a digestif or dessert wine, and it pairs perfectly with a range of sweets or as a dessert itself. For tawny Port and ruby Port, try serving it with pecan pie, chocolate truffles, cheesecake, dark chocolate cake, and even aged or smoked cheeses.
Try pairing it with seafood appetizers made with lobster, crab, smoked fish, or oysters.
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