3.3: Port - Styles of Port Flashcards
How is the style, quality and price of Port largely determined?
- the quality of the base wine
2. the form of maturation
Before being permitted to specify the wine style on the label, what must occur?
wines must be analysed and tasted by the IVDP
When do quality-minded producers often start making decisions on what grapes will be used in particular styles of wine?
during the growing season
In the vineyard, what environmental and human factors can influence the style?
- weather
- canopy management techniques and harvesting dates impacted by ripeness and concentration
What are the main categories of red Ports?
- Basic Ruby
- Basic Tawny
- Reserve Ruby
- Reserve Tawny
- Tawny with an Indication of Age
- Colheita
- Vintage
- Single Quinta
- Crusted
- Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)
Describe Basic Ruby Port.
- medium bodied
- medium tannin levels
- mixture of red and black fruit flavours
- suitable for drinking early
- acceptable to good quality
- inexpensive to mid-priced
- due to limited ageing/use of cheap spirit (both of which mean that it can be made at low price points) the wines often have simple fruity flavours and can have slightly harsh alcohol
How is Basic Ruby Port produced and matured? Why?
protective winemaking techniques
- fermenting in stainless steel or concrete
- ageing in bulk (usually in stainless steel or concrete vessels, or sometimes large old wooden vessels) for a maximum of 3 years
Why?
- to retain primary fruit flavours
- expected to have the same consistent taste year on year
How is Basic Tawny Port produced and matured? Why?
- light extraction during fermentation (similar to Rosé Ports) to give them a paler colour reminiscent of an older wine
- fermenting must for Basic Tawny may be drained early, concentrating the remaining wine which can be used to add more colour and flavour to Ruby Port
- aged for a maximum of 3 years
How do Reserve Ruby and Reserve Tawny compare with basic Ruby and Tawny?
higher quality
For how long must Reserve Tawny Port be aged? In what type of vessel?
- in wood
- min 7 years
What are the requirements in making Reserve Ruby Port?
- no min aging requirement
- must be tasted and approved by the IVDP’s tasting panel
How does Reserve Ruby compare with basic Ruby?
tend to be more concentrated and of a higher quality and price than Basic Ruby
How is a Tawny Port with an Indication of Age aged?
aged for long periods of time in wooden barrel
In what type of vessel is Tawny Port with an Indication of Age aged in?
pipes and hold 620-640 litres
Describe the pipes’ affect on the wine.
- old and therefore do not contribute flavours of oak
- controlled exposure to oxygen:
1. tannins soften
2. alcohol integrates
3. tertiary flavours from fruit development (e.g. dried fruit) and oxidation (e.g. caramel, nuts)
How are the Tawny Port with an Indication of Age filtered? Why?
- not filtered
- due to the long ageing period, clarification and stabilisation occurs naturally in barrel and therefore these wines tend not to need filtration before bottling
What are the 4 age categories that can be stated on the Tawny Port with an Indication of Age label?
10, 20, 30 or 40 years
What does the aged specified on the label of a Tawny Port with an Indication of Age reflect?
- age specified is not the minimum amount of time the wine must be aged
- these wines are usually blends of more than one vintage and this blend can be made up of wines that are younger and older than the age specified
- tasted by a panel within the IVDP and must be deemed to have the characteristics of a wine of that age
What is needed during the maturation of Tawny Ports with an Indication of Age? What does that mean in terms of price?
- barrels need racking and topping up (due to gradual evaporation of the wine)
- makes the production of age-indicated Tawny Ports relatively expensive
What sub-category of Tawny Ports with an Indication of Age has arisen in recent years?
- very old (non-age indicated) aged Tawny
- rare, long maturation
- super premium prices
What are Colheita Ports?
Tawny Ports that are made from the grapes from one vintage
What are the main requirements to make Colheita Ports?
- must be aged in small barrels for a minimum of 7 years before being bottled
- label must state the vintage of the wine as well as the year the wine was bottled
In making Colheita Ports, what might shippers to do to respond to demand?
- shipper could bottle part of their Colheita wine in one year (providing it is at least seven years old)
- bottle more in the following years according to demand
- wine in barrel can be topped up with other wines or spirit to avoid ullage
How does the price of Colheita Port compare with that of Vintage Port?
- Colheita Ports do not tend to be as expensive as Vintage Port
- but there are some shippers that hold small stocks of very old Colheita wines that can sell for super premium prices
What is Vintage Port?
wines from one ‘declared’ vintage
When must producers register their intention to release a Vintage Port? What is this subject to?
- in the second year after harvest
- the young wine is approved by an IVDP tasting panel
When will producers declare a Vintage Port? Is the decision universal across producers?
- in years where their grapes and young wines are of exceptional quality
- some years the vast majority of Port shippers will declare a vintage (e.g. 2011, 2016)
- in other years, the decision is more mixed (e.g. 2015)
What financial decisions are at play when declaring a Vintage Port?
- producers will decide to release according to market conditions
- if two exceptional vintages in a row (very rare) producer must decide whether to declare both vintages, the second of which could take sales away from the first