Port

Question 1

The activities of the Port Industry are divided between which two coastal cities?

Answer 1

Porto
Villa Nova de Gaia

Question 2

The vineyards are divided into 3 sub-regions…what are they?

Answer 2

Baixo Corgo -the lightest wines
Cima Corgo - greatest number of top vineyards
Douro Superior - sparsely planted but top quality wines

Question 3

What is the climate?

Answer 3

Warm Continental

Question 4

Soil type?

Answer 4

Schist bedrock that fractures vertically allowing the vines roots access to deep water reserves. (From Winter rain)

Question 5

Topography of Baixo Corgo and Cima Corgo?

Answer 5

Planted on the very tall and sleep slopes that rise up from the banks of the Douro.
Managing such steep slopes is an enormous and costly challenge

Question 6

Vineyard issues?

Answer 6

Spring frosts and heavy downpours can disrupt flowering and harvest

Question 7

Grape varieties?

Answer 7

Ports are complex blends of many different grapes , which in the Douro tend to be thick skinned and high tannin with black fruit and floral aromas.
Touriga Franca
Tinta Roriz
Tinta Barroca
Touriga Nacional
Tinto cao

Question 8

Fermentation?

Answer 8

Port fermentation is stopped by fortification once the alcohol level reaches 5-9 %, to create a sweet wine.
This means fermentation typically only lasts for around 24 to 48hrs.
Normal extraction techniques are not vigorous enough to produce a wine that has the level of colour and tannin expected of Port so instead, other techniques are utilised.

Foot treading
Autovinifers
Piston plungers and robotic legares

Question 9

How is foot treading carried out?

Answer 9

The traditional method in Port and still the benchmark technique.

Large teams of workers tread the grapes for 3-4hrs in shallow granite troughs or lagares.
Once fermentation has stopped the cap is then regularly punched down to extract more colour and tannin.
Still used for premium wines

Question 10

Explain what happens in AutoVinifers?

Answer 10

Crushed grapes are put into sealed vats and the rising pressure of co2 given off by the fermentation pushes the juice up through the pipes into a holding tank.
When the pressure of the co2 reaches a set level a valve is automatically released and the wine in the holding tank floods down over the cap. Similar to pumping over.

Question 11

What do Piston plungers and robotic lagares do?

Answer 11

Imitate foot treading.
Piston plungers are round shallow open topped stainless steel vats where the cap is pressed down by pistons.
The robotic lagare involves the use of a shallow rectangular stainless steel tank fitted with robotic feet that move up and down the lagare with the feet imitating foot treading by squashing the grapes against the floor of the tank.

Question 12

What does fortification do?

Answer 12

Kills the yeast to create a sweet stable wine with between 19 and 22% abv

Question 13

How strong is the grape spirit used for fortification?

Answer 13

No stronger than 77% abv

Question 14

Maturation?

Answer 14

Ports are generally transported to Vila Nova de Gaia for maturation.
The cooler climate here is well suited to the slow maturation of Port wines.

Old oak vessels both small and very large.

New oak characteristics are not desirable in port wines.

Question 15

Describe Ruby style ports

Answer 15

Ruby style port -predominantly primary fruit character.
produces minimise the effect of oxygen on the flavour of these wines and will only age them for a short period of time in very large oak vessels or stainless steel tanks.
They are fined and filtered before bottling and don’t benefit from bottle ageing

Question 16

Describe Tawny Port

Answer 16

Tawny Port will undergo long oxidative maturation in barrels called pipes.
The wines are made the same as Ruby port but the colour comes down to the difference in maturation.
With age, primary fruit fades becoming raisiny with oxidative flavours of walnuts, coffee, chocolate and caramel.
They throw their deposit during wood ageing and require little extra treatment in preparation for bottling.
Fully developed on release and don’t benefit from bottle ageing.

Question 17

Reserve/reserva port ?

Answer 17

A labelling term that can be applied to both Ruby and Tawny ports that are of a higher quality. Determined by an official tasting panel.

Question 18

Late Bottled Vintage Ports? (LBV)

Answer 18

Aged for between 4 to 6 years before they are bottled.
Typically aged in large oak barrels-makes these wines more approachable on release compared to vintage ports.
The majority are fined and filtered and these rarely benefit from bottle ageing with exception to a few unfined examples.

Question 19

Tawny with indication of age

Answer 19

These wines undergo a long period of oxidative maturation in pipes.
Can be labelled 10, 20, 30 or 40 years old. To qualify, the wine must be consistent with the expected characteristics of a wine that age.
The age on the label is more akin to the average age rather than the age of the youngest component in the blend.

The label must state the year of bottling as the wines lose their freshness after bottling.
These are the finest of all tawny ports.

Question 20

Vintage Port

Answer 20

Produces must register their intention to release a Vintage Port in the 2nd year after the harvest and the wine must be bottled no later than the third year.
Aged in large oak barrels or stainless steel
Unfined, unfiltered.
More concentrated and tannic
Capable of aging in bottle for decades after bottling as they throw a heavy sediment.
Only produced on average 3 times per decade.
Typically a blend of the finest wines from a producers best vineyards.

Question 21

What are single Quinta vintage ports?

Answer 21

Ports produced from a single estate or ‘Quinta’

For producers who own one Quinta they will only declare a vintage in the greatest years.

The large producers who own several take a different approach. In the best years they will use the pick of all the Quinta’s and make a vintage port in years not good enough for a vintage to be declared they will release their best wines as single Quinta vintage ports.