Port Flashcards
what is the homeplace of the production of port ?
1) it is divided between the twin coastal cities of:
- Porto
- Vila Nova de Gaia
- - which lies on the opposite sides of the mouth of the river: Douro
2) and the vineyard area that starts 70 km upstreams of these towns
these are distinctly different and will be considered separatly
what is the homeplace of the production of port ?
1) it is divided between the twin coastal cities of:
- Porto
- Vila Nova de Gaia
- - which lies on the opposite sides of the mouth of the river: Douro
2) and the vineyard area that starts 70 km upstreams of these towns
these are distinctly different and will be considered separatly
The vineyard area is divided into three regions:
1) Baixo Corgo (West)
2) Cima Corgo (mid): where the best portos comes from
3) Douro superiour: sparsly planted (dun beplant) but quality is also made here
what about the topography of the vineyards in the douro ?
1) Vineyards of the Baixo and Cima corgo are panted on very steep slopes that rise up from the banks of the douro and its tributaries.
- – there can be a clear difference of temp between the top and the bottom of the slope
2) vineyards with a northern aspect are used to face away from the suns heat
3) vineyard management on such steep slopes is an enormous and costly challenge
4)
a) Traditionally the vineyards are planted on narrow terraces called Socalcos which were supported by stone walls
- - each wall can only support a few vines and
- — mechanisation is not possible
- —-nevertheless this method is still widely used
b) a new style was developped for allowing a little mechanisation: patamares
- - theyre build without retaining (behouden) walls
- – the rows are wide enough to allow a tractor access
c) vinho ao alto: vines are planted up to down the slopes in a vertical way and accessed by roads cutting across the slope from where machinery is operated by winches (lier: werktuig dat met kabels gebruitk kan worden
- —- not available on the steepest slopes
The vineyard area is divided into three regions:
1) Baixo Corgo (West)
2) Cima Corgo (mid): where the best portos comes from
3) Douro superiour: sparsly planted (dun beplant) but quality is also made here
how about the climate in the vieneyards ?
1) broadly a warm continental climate because the Serro de marao protect the vineyards against the cooling rain bearing atlantic winds
2) the weather is not uniform:
a) the baixo corgo in the west is the wettest and coolest
b) the vineyards becomes progressively hotter and dryer further the east there located
c) growers have to contend with frosts in spring and heavy downpours (regenbuien) can on occasion disrupt flowering as well as harvest
3) in the summer daytime temp can be very high and rainfall very low
4) the schist bedrock with vertically fractures (breuken) allows the vines roots to have access to the water reserves that are hold up during winter
what about the topography of the vineyards in the douro ?
1) Vineyards of the Baixo and Cima corgo are panted on very steep slopes that rise up from the banks of the douro and its tributaries.
- – there can be a clear difference of temp between the top and the bottom of the slope
2) vineyards with a northern aspect are used to face away from the suns heat
3) vineyard management on such steep slopes is an enormous and costly challenge
4) Traditionally the vineyards are planted on narrow terraces called Sacalcos
what are the grape varieties of Douro ?
the grapes tend to be all thick skinned, high in tann with black fruit and floral aromas:
1) Touriga franca
2) Tinta Roriz
3) Tinta Barroca
4) Touriga Nacional
5) Tinto Câo
In the winery: fermentation:
1) ferm stopped by fortification when alc lvl reaches 5-9% abv
- - sweet wine
- - ferm period last for 24-36 hrs
what about the maturation of a ruby styled port ?
1) when bottled it has a primary fruit character
- - oxidation is minimised
- - short period on large oak vessels or stainless steel tanks
- - this is how ruby, reserve ruby and lbv ruby are aged
2) most ruby, reserve ruby and some lbv are filtered before bottle ageing and typically do not benefit from bottle ageing
- - some lbv’s and all vintage ports are not filtered and benefit from long bottle ageing
3) tawny: undergo long oxidative maturation in barrels called pipes
- - the wines are made in the same way as ruby port
- – the wines turn garnet and finally brown
- — with age the primary aromas fades becoming raisini, coffee, caramel and chocolate
- — they have some deposit due the maturation so they need to be threated before bottling
- —- these are ready to drink when bottled
how about the fortification ?
1) kills the yeast to create a stable sweet wine with between 19-22% abv
2) every port is sweet but many are sweeter then others, this depends on the housestyle and the momend of fortification
3) the aguardente that been used can be no stronger than 77% abv
- - the fact that the alc level are low prior to fortification
- — means that significant volumes of spirit are used to
- —-20% of volume in a bottle of port is spirit
what about the inexpensive ports ?
a) ruby: these are blends of wines that are typically between one and three years old
— they lack t concentration, complexity or tannins of more premium styles
b) tawny: browner in common with other tawnys
- theyre no older than ruby ports and have not undergone a long oxidative mature period
— producers have number of different options to achieve this colour:
using less heavely extracted wines from the baixo corgo, blending in with white ports
what about the maturation of a ruby styled port ?
1) when bottled it has a primary fruit character
- - oxidation is minimised
- - short period on large oak vessels or stainless steel tanks
- - this is how ruby, reserve ruby and lbv ruby are aged
2) most ruby, reserve ruby and some lbv are filtered before bottle ageing and typically do not benefit from bottle ageing
- - some lbv’s and all vintage ports are not filtered and benefit from long bottle ageing
3) tawny: undergo long oxidative maturation in barrels called pipes
- - the wines are made in the same way as ruby port
- – the wines turn garnet and finally brown
- — with age the primary aromas fades becoming raisini, coffee, caramel and chocolate
- — they have some dposit due the maturation so they need to be threated before bottling
- —- these are ready to drink when bottled
the vast majority of port is made out an complex blend of different grapevarieties from the vineyards and the blending proces take place at the pre bottle maturation
true
what about the inexpensive ports ?
a) ruby: these are blends of wines that are typically between one and three years old
- – they lack t concentration, complexity or tannins of more premium styles
b) tawny: browner in common with other tawnys
- theyre no older than ruby ports
