Port Flashcards
1
Q
Touriga Nacional
A
- black grape
- small berries in duoro and dao regions (origin)
- vine is vigorous and robust
- low yielding (prone to coulure)
- high color
- high tannin
- finest grape but takes up low % of plantings
- clonal selection over the years has helped (higher sugar levels and more productive)
2
Q
Red grapes used in port
A
- Touriga Nacional
- Touriga Franca
- Tinta Roriz
- Tinta Barroca
- Tinta Cao
3
Q
White grapes used in port
A
- Malvasia Fina
- Gouveio
- Viosinho
4
Q
Touriga Franca
A
- black grape
- Touriga Francesa
- most widely planted in Duoro
- 35.5k acres
- not as concentrated as Nacional but high tanning and color
- more succeptible to rot
- favored because of consistent yields (unlike Nacional)
- very perfumy/aromatic and persistent fruit
- one of the best port varieties
- best if planted on south facing slopes (needs warmer sites to fully ripen)
5
Q
Tinta Roriz
A
- red grape
- tempranillo
- lightweight grape
- adds finesse to blends
- most planted variety next to Franca in Duoro
- easy to grow
- tends to over produce
- ## performs best in years where yields are inheritently low
6
Q
Tinta Cao
A
- red grape
- top quality
- almost disapperaed from Duoro until recognized as top 5 grapes for port
- not the deepest in color
- not really productive / low yielding
- rare
- high is extract
7
Q
Tinta Barroca
A
- red grape
- high must weights
- high levels of color, tannin, and acidity
- ripens early
- prefers cooler sites
- thick skinned
- 3rd most planted in Douro
- 13k acres
- favored for high yields, high sugar
- planted on higher north facing slopes
- prone to mildews
- easily damaged by heat
- berries have tendency to shrivel (hence cooler sites)
- well structured but jammy and rustic
- popular for fortified port like wines in South Africa
8
Q
Gouveio
A
- white grape
- grown in douro
- local name for Godello grape
- tangy grape
9
Q
Malvasia Fina
A
- white grape
- most important true Malvasia
- grown in Douro
- also known as Boal
- 7.5k acres
10
Q
Viosinho
A
- white grape
- aromatic
- good at higher elevations
- grown in douro
- traditional constituent of white port
- low yielding and has a tendency to oxidize
- generally blended w/ rabigato and gouveio (godello)
- 2k plantings in 2012
11
Q
Port styles: Ruby
A
- named after it’s youthful color
- the most simple
- deep color, fruity aromas, some body and structure
- not too tannic
- usually made up of blend from more than one year, aged in bulk for less than three years and bottled young to capture it’s young essence
- aged either in balseiros, cement vats or stainless
- ## racking kept to a minimum to avoid oxidation characters
12
Q
Port styles: Tawny
A
- implies aged in wood for longer than a ruby and has a tawny hue
- not always the case as some are aged the same as rubies
- these innexpensive tawnies are from the Baixo Corgo, a lighter port
- heavy fining is used to adjust the color and some add carmelized grape must to artificially mature color aroma, and flavor
- many spend the summer up in the douro being stewed by the heat and ambient heat of the cement vats
- tawnies see wood on accident usually giving a brown tinge on the rim. usually softer than rubies
- distinguished from wood matured tawnies in that they do not have an indication of age
13
Q
Port styles: Rose port
A
- new category by Croft in 2008
- at first classified as a light ruby
- most shippers make a Rose port but the style and colors vary along with the flavors
- captured a new and younger section of the market
- marketed as served in the summer over ice or as a mixer
14
Q
Port styles: White Port
A
- characterless grapes and heavy handed vinification produce insipid and extractive wines
- some aged in wood but most dry white ports kept in stainless steel before bottling
- there’s a shortage of white grapes
- range of styles including Lagrima (unctuous, means tears because of viscosity) to sweet, medium sweet, dry, extra dry.
- most white ports fortified to 19-22% abv
- usually served chilled as an aperatif
- market exists in portugal, holland, france and benelux (belgium, netherlands, luxembourg)
15
Q
Port special categories: Reserve
A
- category approved in 2002
- means a wine of good quality obtained by blending wines of different ages which creates a wine with complex aroma and flavor with special organaleptic characteristics
- if deep deep red or youthful red in color can be called reserve ruby
- most wines in this category can be described as premium ruby
- made from better grapes, possibly aged longer
- it’s a reflection of quality not age
- must seek approval from the IVDP tasting panel if they wish to use the the term on the label
- important category for all port shippers
- strong sales in english speaking markets
- rich, ripe, spicy berry fruit and in some cases, bold tannins
16
Q
Port special categories: LBV
A
- a wine from a single year bottled between 4-6 years after the vintage (compared to a maximum of 2 years for vintage port)
- evolved by default
- many port sat maturing until it found a buyer
- claimed to be invented by Noval when it applied it to a wine from 1954 vintage but listed it in the year 1961.
- style popularized by Taylor with first official 1965 LBV launched in 1970
- all port shippers jumped on board and became a great sell to english speaking markets as “vintage” commands premium prices
- 3 different styles of LBV: must be single harvest (not necessarily declared vintage), bottled between July 1 in the 4th year after the respective harvest and 31st December in the 6th year.
- kept in large vats to avoid oxidation (balseiros or stainless)
- fining, filtering and cold stabilization led to no decanting
- this is great for restaurants however this heavy handed filtration has stripped character of the wine and left you with little more than a ruby reserve with a date attached
- traditional LBV’s which are not filtered and fined in the 1990’s. usually more full bodied and can age up to 5 more years in bottle
- driven cork
- will eventually throw some sediment
- since 2002 some can qualify as bottle aged and labeled as such as long as it’s been in the bottle for atleast 3 years and cannot be sold until such time has passed
- Warre has made this
- share the depth, intensity and maturity of vintage ports at half the price and should be decanted
17
Q
Port special categories: Crusted Port
A
- due to deposits of crust the bottle throws
- recent creation and a poor man’s vintage port at half the price
- much closer in style to vintage ports that LBV
- dense concentrated wines
- wines from 2-3 harvests are aged in wood for up to two years and bottled without filtering or fining
- date of bottling must appear on label
- most ready to be drunk around 6 years
- can be kept for even longer periods though
18
Q
Port special categories: Tawny w/ age indication
A
- most tawnies bottled with an age indication, 10, 20, 30
- all tawny ports are a complex blend of wines from a number of different years
- age indication is nothing more than an approximation
- can be velho “old” or if over 40, muito velho “very old”
- selected among the finest ports
- mostly sourced from A-B grade vineyards in the Cima Corgo or Douro Superior (some from the Baixo Corgo)
- elegence, finesse, structure and all have a house style
- ageing process the most important part
- in lodge pipes 600 litres, wine undergoes oxidation and esterificationas color fades.
- ethyl esters and acetals develop and are influenced by the ambient storage temperature and rate of evaporation
- tawny matured in Douro goes through a much more rapid maturation process than those in the cooler Vila Nova de Gaia lodges (annual evaporate between 1-2%).
- a higher rate of evaporation (3%) can be good as it concentrates the natural sugars and high temps produce whines with distinctive toasted richness
- On quinta said keeping wines up in Douro accelerates aging by about 30%
- some shippers deliberately use a component of Douro matured wines in their aged tawnies
- racking regimen is important
- tasting and blending is a continous process
- lighter earlier wines go to tens while more rich, structured wines go to older twawines
- stocks of old tawnies driven by anticipated sales
- end result could be 50 wines with younger and older combined balancing fruit w/ secondary notes
19
Q
10 year old tawny
A
- still brick red
- amber tawny rim
- rich raisin and sultana character
- touch of toasty complexity for wood
- peppery tannin on finish
20
Q
20 year old tawny
A
- epitome of balance and poise
- primacy of fruit and secondary toasted almond and brazil nut
- slightly sweeter than 10yr
- greater concentration of sugars
- color ranges from tawny pink to pale amber orange, olive green tinge on the rim
- these are favored to include some of that douro bake
21
Q
30 year old tawny
A
- orange amber tawny to pale mahogany with olive green rim
- really complex
- marked roasted coffee notes
- raisin like richness
- sweetness on the verge of unctous
- rustic , high toned, sometimes vinegar like aromas, could be the wines heading downhill
- bottled in very small quantites, only about a few hundred cases a year
22
Q
40 year old tawny
A
- amber tawyn to deep mahogany with olive green rim
- matured and roasted
- toasted almonds and well done toast
- freshly roasted coffee on the nose
- marmalade, candied peel with some rancio characer
- some cloying
- expensive and tiny quantities
23
Q
Port special categories: Colheita
A
- means harvest
- product of a single harvest but the wine is aged in wood for a minimum of seven years by which is will have taken on oxidative and tawny tones
- most aged considerably longer
- take on secondary aromas and flavors
- are constantly topped up due to loss of evaporation
- lose color but gain richness, sweetness and intesity the longer they sit in wood
- not blended so they can be tired by the time they get to bottling
- two dates appear on the label: year of harvest and year of bottling
- wine will not generally improve in the bottle so the bottling year is important
24
Q
Port special categories: White port w/ indication
A
- wood ageing lends character to the wine, turning it tawny and flavor with age
- old white ports can be part of an aged tawny blend
- can be marketed as 10,20,30,40
25
Q
Vintage port
A
- only accounts for a tiny fraction of shipments
- flagship of entire trade
- wines from a single year are bottled, no treatment or filtration, after spending a maximum of 2 years ageing in bulk
- skill is in the selection of the lotes made from the finest grapes picked at the optimum ripeness after a good growing season
- most come from the same grapes and plots year after year
- kept in balseiros to prevent undue oxidation (some in stainless)
- shippers have 2 years to declare a vintage
- on average 3-4 years are declared in a decade
- size of declaration depends on the year and the market
- can age in bottle 15-20+ years
- some shippers have produced more forward drinking vintage ports to sooth the American palate of not wanting to wait
- wines are bottled as soon as they are approved
- can be bottled at any time until the 31st of July in the 3rd year after harvest.
- wines may be shipped any time after the 2st of may of the 2nd year
26
Q
Touriga Nacional
A
- low yielding
- high color
- high tannin
- concentrated flavors
- finest grape but occupies little vineyard plantings
- when phyloxerra hit, this suffered because of it’s low yield property and lack of good rootstock availability, increased it’s probability of poor fruit set.
- almost extint by the late 70’s
- clonal selection helped w/ it’s comeback in the 1980’s grown in Cima Corgo and Douro Superior
- it’s high vigor and is succeltible to cool, damp weather during flowering
- Cockburns said to have the greatest number of plantings
- easily over ripens
- small and thick skinned berries
- produces the most concentrated of wines
- capable of high alc levels
- distinctive floral aromas, violets and bergamot
- essential in all of the vintage ports
- again, yields are variable, too high alt not good for it either (like douro superior - best at Cima Corgo)
- prone to coulure
- make it unpopular for growers
- know as a winemakers grape than a growers grape
- deep color
- naturally unproductive but high vigor
- pain to manage in the vineyard
- best of all port grapes
- clonal selection is key
- has tiny berries
- succeptible to coulure
- ripens early
- produces black wines with high aromatics
- great extract and high tannin
- prefers hotter situations
- poor pollinator so yields are naturally low
- vine is highly vigorous though (hence the battle for which gets the nutrients)
- goal is to increase plantings and increase sugar content overall for quality purposes
- best clone selection now is R110
27
Q
Touriga Franca
A
- also known as Touriga Francesa
- member of the Touriga family
- high quality grape variety
- usefull for filling the gaps in vineyards between vines that either like hot or cool situations
- gives fruit and aroma to the blend
- 2nd most widely planted grape
- more common of the touriga’s
- 35k acres planted
- best planted on the warmer south facing slopes
- not as concentrated as nacional
- is succeptible to more rot though (not good as cooler damp weather is possible during flowering
- it is favored by growers though for it’s consistent yields and respected for it’s perfume and persistent fruit
- accidental crossing of Touriga Nacional and Mourisco / Marufo (known as a light colored grape sometimes favoreed for lighter tawny ports)
- liked by both growers and winemakers
- hardy varietly and likes the heat
- pretty disease resistant and consistent yields
- it too is an excessively vigorous vine and can fail to fully ripen and will achieve lower sugar levels if yield is too high or the local climate not ideal.
- at higher altitudes. sugar levels really suffer to even get to 11 Baume
- requires a lot of work to extract color and tannin from these thick skinned grapes in the winery
- more expressive than nacional in it’s youth but cannot compete with nacional’s depth and longevity
- does suffer from fluctuations in quality
- said to be like the cab / merlot of bordeaux
