Port

Question 1

Name some examples of fortied wine from Portugal?

Answer 1

Setúbal, Carcavelos, and Pico

Question 2

When was the Douro first demarcated?

Answer 2

1756 - one of the world’s oldest appellations.

Question 3

Who oversees Port wine production today?

Answer 3

Douro Port Wine Institute, or Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP)

Question 4

Who previsouly oversaw Port wine production from 1995 to 2003?

Answer 4

Commissão Interprofissional da Região Demarcada do Douro

Question 5

Who previsouly oversaw Port wine production from 1932 to 1995?

Answer 5

The Casa do Douro, a syndicate of growers’ guilds

Question 6

Why did the The Casa do Douro lose many of its regulatory functions?

Answer 6

it bought controlling shares in Royal Oporto, a port shipper and the surviving remnant of the Companhia Geral dos Vinhos do Alto Douro

Question 7

Who was the original company in 1756 in the Douro?

Answer 7

Companhia Geral dos Vinhos do Alto Douro

Question 8

What does the Douro Port Wine Institute (IVDP) do?

Answer 8

supervises the promotion, production, and trade of all Porto and Douro DOP wines applies to both growers and shippers. Guarantees label integrity and age designations, and samples all appellation wines for authenticity

Question 9

Define lei do terço?

Answer 9

The “law of the third”, decree restricting sales of Port to 1/3 of a house’s total inventory annually

Question 10

What is beneficio authorization?

Answer 10

Granted to Growers by the IVDP, regulates the max wine that may be fortified in a given year—based on a matrix of twelve factors.

Question 11

How many points are available in the beneficio? What is considered an ‘A’ score?

Answer 11

2,361 total points
A = 1,200
B = 1,001 and 1,200
G to I = you can’t make port

Question 12

What is the Moreira da Fonseca method?

Answer 12

Another term for benficio

Question 13

What are the 12 areas for beneficio points?

Answer 13

7 soil and climate: (location, altitude, exposure, bedrock, rough matter, slope and shelter)
5 vine: (type of vine, planting density, yield, training system, and vine age)

Question 14

What are max yields for red and white in the Douro?

Answer 14

Red 55 hl/ha
White 65 hl/ha

Question 15

What are the preferred red grapes for Porto? (9 in total)

Answer 15

Touriga Nacional
Touriga Francesa
Tinta Roriz
Tinta Cão
Tinta Barroca
Tinta Amarela
Tinta Francisca
Bastardo
Mourisco Tinto

Question 16

What percentage of vineyard plantings must be from the preferred grape list?

Answer 16

60%

Question 17

What are the preferred white grapes for Porto? (6 in total)

Answer 17

Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Rabigato, Esgana Cão, and Folgasão

Question 18

Define Vinhos ao Alta

Answer 18

New planting system abandons traditional terraces in favor of planting vines in vertical rows leading directly up the slopes

Question 19

What is the most common type of terraces in Douro?

Answer 19

Patamares - wider so a tractor can go between

Question 20

How were grapes traditionally crushed?

Answer 20

Foot-crushed and fermented in low, open granite troughs called lagares.

Question 21

Define Autovinifiers?

Answer 21

Algerian vinification technology in which the fermenting wine would be pumped over the cap by virtue of its own buildup of gas

Question 22

When does the fortification of wine with spirit occur in Porto?

Answer 22

After approximately 1/3 of the sugar content has been converted to alcohol.

Question 23

What is aguardente?

Answer 23

“burning water”—a 77% abv neutral grape spirit. Used to fortify Port wine to 19-22%

Question 24

What happens during the beneficio process?

Answer 24

halts fermentation, killing the yeasts and preserving sweetness in the Port.

Question 25

What ratio is aguardente added to Port?

Answer 25

1:4 usually

Question 26

Who pioneered White & Rose ports? When?

Answer 26

Croft in the 2000s
They are made with lesser degrees of maceration.

Question 27

Define pipe in the Douro?

Answer 27

Traditional barrel used for both aging and shipping Port wine, varies in size.

Question 28

What are some of the sizes of pipe used?

Answer 28

Douro Valley usually 550 liters
Vila Nova de Gaia usually 620 liters
Shipping Pipe set at 534.24 liters

Question 29

Ruby Port styles & characteristics?

Answer 29

Can include Vintage Ports, are bottle-aged. Darker color, more youthful fruit and spice tones, and a more aggressive, fiery character

Question 30

Tawny Port styles & characteristics?

Answer 30

cask-aged, and develop more complex, mature tones of toffee, dried fruits, and toasted nuts with time. Naturally develops lighter, amber tones of color as it ages in wood.

Question 31

Where does aging has historically occurr for Tawny Port?

Answer 31

Port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, a suburb of Oporto, although this ceased to be mandatory in 1986

Question 32

Ruby Port

Answer 32

Often aged in bulk (in wood, cement, or stainless steel) for two to three years prior to bottling. Simple, deeply colored, and inexpensive. Ruby Port does not carry a vintage date.

Question 33

Ruby Reserve Port

Answer 33

Ruby Reserve, or Premium Ruby, replaced the term “Vintage Character” and offers more complexity and character than a basic Ruby Port.

Question 34

Vintage Port

Answer 34

most expensive style of Port to purchase and constitutes approximately 1-3% of production

Question 35

When can Vintage Port be released?

Answer 35

Only declared usually 3 out of every 10 years. It is aged in cask before being bottled by July 30 of the third year after harvest, must be authorzied by IVDP. Will improve with age.

Question 36

What are back-to-back, or “split” vintages?

Answer 36

Are rare, as few shippers want to flood the market lest prices plunge.

Question 37

Single Quinta Vintage Port

Answer 37

Product of one estate’s harvest, often released to showcase the better estates fruit when a Vintage is not declared. Will improve with age.

Question 38

Name some examples of Single Quinta Vintage Port

Answer 38

Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha, Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas, and Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim.

Question 39

Late-Bottled Vintage Port

Answer 39

4-6 years in cask prior to bottling. Obtains some mellowed tones of Tawny, while retaining youthful fruit and directness of a Ruby. Does not improve with age.

Question 40

Port service guidelines?

Answer 40

LBV is filtered and may not require decanting.
Vintage Port will collect sediment and benefits from decanting.

Question 41

What does Envelhecido em Garrafa indicate on a LBV?

Answer 41

additional min 3 years of bottle aging, often unfiltered.

Question 42

Tawny Port

Answer 42

Many wines labeled as Tawny Port do not undergo the extensive cask aging that is critical to the style, but are simply paler wines, have white Port blended, or less extraction

Question 43

Reserve Tawny

Answer 43

Ages for at least 7 years prior to bottling. Blended from several vintages, retain youthful freshness while gaining a hint of the creamy, delicate. Will not improve with age.

Question 44

Tawny with Indication of Age

Answer 44

may be labeled as 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 Years Old. High-quality fruit, matured in seasoned wood, racked once annually with new spirit, blended before bottling

Question 45

Colheita Tawny

Answer 45

min 7 years in cask—many stay in cask for decades. May vary in character from bottle to bottle, filled as orders come in.

Question 46

When do Tawny ports reach a pronounced oxidative, rancio state?

Answer 46

By 40 years old

Question 47

What is the preffered Indication of Age Tawny Port for consumption?

Answer 47

20 years of age, when the balance of fruit and mature characteristics is even, the spirit is finely integrated and the wine is not overtly oxidized.