PORT Flashcards
Where is the Port industry?
Divided between the twin coastal cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia
How many sub regions is the vineyard area divided into?
3
The Baixo Corgo-Produces the lightest wines
Cima Corgo-Greatest number of the top vineyards are found here
-Douro Superior-Sparsely planted, but is renowned as a source of top quality wine
Climate?
-Warm continental
-Shaded from the cool rain bearing Atlantic winds by the Sera do Maro
Baixo Corgo-In the west and is the coolest and wettest
-Vineyards become hotter and drier the further east they are located
-Frosts in spring can be an issue
What makes viticulture possible?
The Schist bedrock
-It fractures vertically which allows vines to access deep water reserves that are built up by the winter rains
Where are the vineyards in Baixo and Cimo Corgo planted?
Very tall and very steep slopes that rise up from the banks of the Douro and its tributaries
What is socalocs?
Narrow terraces where vines were traditionally planted, which were supported by stone walls
*No vineyard mechanization is possible
*Expensive
This system is still widely used
What is patamares?
-New style of terrace
-Built without retaining walls
-Each terrace is wide enough to allow tractor access
*Prone to erosion
What is Vinha ao alto?
An unterraced system where the angle of the slope is low
-Vines are planted up and down the slope and accessed by roads cutting across the slope from where machinery is operated by winches
*Not viable on the steepest slopes
*Prone to erosion
5 preferred varieties in Port production?
Touriga Franca
Tinto Roriz
Tinta Barroca
Touriga Nacional
Tinto Cao
Red grape characteristics in the Douro for Port?
Thick skinned
High in tannin
Black fruit/ floral aromas
How is port fermentation stopped?
How long does fermentation last?
By fortification once the alcohol reaches 5-9% abv to create a sweet wine
Fermentation only lasts for 24-48 hours
What is foot treading?
-Traditional method of extraction in port/Benchmark which all other methods are judged
-Large amount of workers tread the grapes for 3-4 hours in shallow granite troughs or lagares
-Once fermentation is underway, foot treading stops and then the cap is then regularly punched down to extract more color/tannin
*Not widely used due to expense
What is autovinifiers?
-One of the earliest methods used to automate extraction
-Still widely used
-Crushed grapes are put into sealed vats an the rising pressure of the CO2 given off by the fermentation pushes the juice up through pipes into a holding tank
-When the pressure of CO2 reaches a set level the valve is automatically released and the wine in the holding tank no longer supported by the gas pressure, floods down over the cap
-Valve resets and process starts again
*Similar to pumping over, but the amount of contact between the wine and the skins is much higher, because when the fermentation is very active, a cycle will complete every 15-20min
*Pre fermentation is limited/ many include mechanical paddles to help with this
What are Piston plungers and Robotic lagaraes?
-Designed to imitate foot treading as closely as possible
PP- Round shallow open topped stainless steel vats where the cap is pressed down with robotic pistons
RL- Involves the use of shallow and rectangular stainless steel tank of the approx size of the traditional lager which is adapted to carry a self propelled gantry with robotic feet
Gantry moves up and down the lager with the feet copying the action of foot treading by actually squashing the grapes against the floor of the tank
Once foot treading is done these machines carry out regular punch downs
What is fortification?
How strong is the spirit used?
How much is the total volume of port a spirit?
-Kills the yeast to create a stable sweet wine btwn 19-22% abv
-Timing of the fortification will depend on the initial must weight and the required level of sweetness
-The spirit or aguardente used can be no stronger than 77% abv
-On average 20% of the total volume of a bottle of port is spirit
Where are ports transported for maturation?
-Downstream to Vila Nova da Gaia (Cooler climate is well suited to the slow maturation of ports)
Traditionally where did maturation take place?
-Old oak vessels, both small and very large
-Stainless steel is now used too
What is a characteristic that is NOT desired in any port?
New oak flavours
2 broad styles of red port that are a direct consequence of the type of vessel used?
Ruby and tawny
Ruby Port characteristics?
How are they aged?
What styles of wine are aged this way?
-When bottled have a predominant primary fruit character
-Will only age these wines for a very short period of time in very large old oak vessels or stainless steel tanks, which helps minimize the effect of oxygen in regards to flavor of these wines
Ruby
Reserve Ruby
Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)
Vintage ports
*These wines will all be deeply colored with intense primary fruit flavours when bottled
Which styles of red port will be fined and filtered before bottling and typically do not benefit from bottle ageing?
Ruby
Reserve Ruby
Some styles of LBV
What types of Port are NOT filtered and can benefit from long bottle ageing?
After long bottle ageing what are the characteristics of these wines?
Some LBV’s
ALL Vintage ports
Garnet color
Tertiary cooked fruit and vegetal flavours (Prune, leather, wet leaves)
How are Tawny ports matured?
What color do they turn?
What fades with age?
-Long oxidative maturation in barrels called pipes
-Wines are made in exactly the same way as ruby styles and the difference in color and flavour are entirely down to the difference in maturation
-Turn garnet then tawny, only the oldest become fully brown
-Primary fruit, becoming raisiny and is accompanied by flavours of walnuts, chocolate, toffee, caramel
-They throw their deposit during wood ageing
-DO NOT benefit from further ageing
What ports must be made from single vintage?
LBV
Vintage ports
