Port, Dessert Wine, Cognac, & Armagnac Flashcards
What Does LBV mean?
“Late-Bottled Vintage” or “LBV” Ports aren’t bottled until up to four to six years from the vintage date. This means they spend about twice as long in wood as Vintage Ports, and so they’re usually more accessible at an early age.
http://www.winemag.com/March-2010/Understanding-Late-Bottled-Vintage-Port/
What is a “Tawny” Port?
Tawny Ports become tawny-colored from the oxidation they experience during their long maturation in porous wooden casks—generally 10 years or more, up to 40 years in some cases. They have a mellow, nutty, slightly woody, dried fruit character.
This is a contrast to Vintage Ports, which remain in oak barrels for only two years before bottling, and so retain their deep red/purple color and sweet, ripe fruit flavors. Made entirely from grapes of a single declared vintage year, they are usually the richest and most powerful of Ports, and age exceptionally well in the bottle.
What does “Puttonyos” mean?
Puttonyos is the unit given to denote the level of sugar and hence the sweetness of Hungarian dessert wine, called Tokaji (or tokay).
It is traditionally measured by the number of hods of sweet botrytised or nobly rotted grapes (known as Aszú) added to a barrel of wine, but is now measured in grams of residual sugar.
The puttony was actually the 25 kg basket or hod of Aszú grapes, and the more added to the barrel of wine, the sweeter the eventual wine.
Measurement goes from 3 to 6 Puttonyos. (see link below related to the proposed elimination of 3 and 4 levels, March 2014)
A Tokaji made entirely from Aszú grapes is known as Aszú Eszencia.
Want to learn all about Tawny Port?
Dow’s 1991
$35 / 280
Fonseca Reserve Bin 27
$12 / 65
Fonseca White Sirocco
$12 / 65
(FONSECA SIROCO IS A DRY WHITE PORT FIRST INTRODUCED IN THE 1950S AND NAMED AFTER THE WARM WIND WHICH BLOWS OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN FROM NORTH AFRICA.)
In most countries, Ports is traditionally enjoyed at the end of the meal. The exception is white Port, especially the drier style which makes an excellent aperitif.
It is a blend of classic white Port grape varieties, predominantly Malvasia Fina with smaller proportions of Gouveio, Viosinho, Rabigato and Arinto, grown on the cooler, higher vineyards of the Douro Valley.
To achieve its crisp dry finish, the wine is allowed to ferment for longer than other styles of Port before it is fortified. Ageing in small oak vats gives Siroco its smoothness as well as its attractive ripe fruit flavours and delicate nuttiness.
Siroco makes an elegant, stylish and versatile aperitif, equally at home before an alfresco meal on a warm summer day or on a cold winter evening in front of the fire.
TASTING NOTE
Pale, straw colour. A superb balance of ripe fruit, delicate acidity and elegant notes of wood aging. Full and fruity on the palate this wine has a glorious lingering finish and an attractive, refreshing crispness.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fonseca Siroco is traditionally enjoyed as an aperitif, served chilled in a white wine glass. It can also be poured over ice in a high ball glass and topped up with tonic water and a leaf of fresh mint or a slice of lemon as a refreshing summer long drink. Accompanied by salted almonds and some plump, juicy olives, it is the perfect aperitif.
But why stop there? Siroco brings an extra dimension of flavour to many dishes, for example when added as a finishing touch to a warm leek and potato soup or a cool summer gazpacho. Use it in place of white wine to provide an original aromatic accent when cooking clams or mussels.
Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny
$18 / 144
Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Tawny
$22 / 176
Taylor Fladgate 30 Year Tawny
$35 / 280
Taylor Fladgate 40 Year Tawny
$49 / 392
100 yrs. of Port
1 ounce each of Taylor Fladgate 10yr, 20yr, 30yr, 40yr
$65
Taylor Fladgate LBV 2008
$12 / 65
Fizz 56 Brachetto DOC (NV Piemonte, IT)
$11 / 56
Ruffino Moscato d’Asti (NV Piemonte, IT)
$11 / 56
Moscato d’Asti is a semi-sweet, lightly sparkling, low-alcohol wine from Piedmont, north-western Italy. It could hardly be more different from Piedmont’s other iconic wine style – robust, red, Barolo. As implied by its name, the wine is made from Moscato grapes grown in vineyards near the town of Asti. The classic Moscato d’Asti wine is characterized by elegant floral aromas and notes of peach, apricot and fresh grape juice (© Wine-Searcher). It is one of Italy’s most famous and most popular wines. The wine’s best-known producers include Castello del Poggio, Michele Chiarlo, Villa Rinaldi and Paolo Saracco. Even California-based Cupcake Vineyards now produces a Moscato d’Asti.
The Moscato Bianco grape variety has been at home in Piedmont for centuries. The variety was officially recorded as far back as the 13th Century, in the statues of the town of Canelli. Canelli remains important to Moscato today; it is located at the very heart of the Moscato d’Asti production area and is home to several wineries of note. The Moscato Bianco variety is even sometimes known by the synonym Moscato di Canelli.
Michele Chiarlo “Nivole” (‘12 Moscato D’Asti, IT)
$12 / 48
Royal Tokaji (‘08 Hungary)
$24 / 95
Jacopo Poli “Vespaiolo” Grappa (IT)
$25 / 200
Familial L. Dupont Clavados “Hors d’Age (Pays d’Auge, FR)
$20
Calvados Hors d’age
A.O.C. Calvados du Pays d’Auge
Calvados Hors d’Age has aged 6 years in oak barrels, with 25% of new oak.
Terroir: Clay and Oxfordian marl soil.
Varieties:
80% of bittersweet apples
20% of acid apples
Harvesting:
from September to November
Alcohol content:
42 % vol.
Techniques used:
The apples are mixed, crushed and pressed. The apple juice is fermented right out to give cider to be distilled. Double distillation is carried out 6 months after the fermentation has taken place. The first distillation gives the “petite eau” at 30% by volume and it is the second distillation, that of the “petite eau” which gives the Calvados.
Aging: Six years minimum. In toasted 400 L (88 imperial gallon) oak barrels, 25% of which are new. Bottled when ordered.
Tasting Notes:
Eyes: Golden yellow, slightly coppery.
Nose: Pleasant, fine with good complexity, lightly wooded. Fruit aromas of apple and banana. Floral hints of rose and jasmine. Develops in complexity when smelt again after swirling.
Mouth: Sweet attack, excellently balanced. Fruity hints of ripe apples. Hints of wood.
The history of the Dupont Family in the Pays d’Auge region in Normandy goes back for more than 3 centuries. The oldest known archives testify to the birth of Pierre Dupont in 1703.
In 1887, Jules Dupont arrived as tenant farmer at La Vigannerie, the old name of the present estate. In parallel with his cattle raising activity, he produced cider and calvados. Thanks to his sales of these, he was able to buy La Vigannerie in 1916.
His son, Louis Dupont, succeeded him in 1934. He continued his father’s business of cattle raising. He also produced calvados which he sold in bulk to local merchants. When he died in 1974, his wife Colette, with the support of the family courageously assumed control.
It was in 1980 that Etienne Dupont took up the reins of the family estate, thus succeeding his father, Louis. He extended the estate, concentrating its activities around cider and calvados production. The old orchards were redeveloped and ten further hectares (24 acres) of low growing apple trees were planted. He went to Cognac to immerse himself in the best techniques of double distillation. Etienne Dupont is behind the creation of the appellation contrôlée A.O.C. Pays d’Auge.
In 2002, his son Jérôme Dupont joined the family estate of which he became the director, in partnership with his sister Anne-Pamy Dupont. The modernisation of the state continues always driven by this insistence on quality and this inventiveness, which characterises the Domaine Dupont.
