Port General

Question 1

What ingredient is essential for quinquinas?

Answer 1

cinchona bark

Question 2

What are the three general methods for fortification?

Answer 2

• Addition of spirit while sugars remain (Port)
• Fortification after the fermentation has concluded (Sherry)
• Fortification prior to fermentation (mistelle)

Question 3

What does the EU define all fortified wines as in France? Name the type for each region:
•Champagne
•Cognac
•Armagnac
•Jura
•Calvados

Answer 3

vin de liqueur
•Champagne - Ratafia
•Cognac - Pineau des Charentes
•Armagnac - Floc de Gascogne
•Jura - Macvin du Jura
•Calvados - Pommeau

Question 4

When was the Douro first demarcated?

Answer 4

1756

Question 5

Who oversees the the production of port?

Answer 5

Douro Port Wine Institute (IVDP; aka Commissão Interprofessional da Região Demarcada do Douro, since 2003

Question 6

Who is the most recent, former governing body of Port?

Answer 6

Casa do Douro, a syndicate of growers’ guilds established in 1932 and oversaw the regulation of viticulture until 1995–when it purchased controlling shares in Royal Oporto

Question 7

What is Royal Oporto?

Answer 7

The surviving remnant of the Companhia Geral dos Vinhos do Alto Douro: the original oversight “company” est. in the Douro in 1756

Question 8

What does the IVDP in Portugal supervise?

Answer 8

Supervises the promotion, production and trade of all Porto and Douro DOP wines

Question 9

What is the “law of the third”?

Answer 9

Port houses must comply, restricting sales of Port to one-third of a house’s total inventory annually

Question 10

Who guarantees label integrity and age designations for Porto and Douro DOP wines?

Answer 10

IVDP (Douro Port Wine Institute)

Question 11

What is “beneficio”?

Answer 11

The maximum amount of wine that each grower may fortify in a given year–granted by the IVDP
•Based on a matrix of twelve factors, totaling 2,361 points
•A = 1,200+
•B = 1,200-1,001 and so on to “F”

Question 12

What matrix is used to decide how much wine may be fortified? What are the factors?

Answer 12

“Beneficio”
•A matrix of 12 factors
•Seven soil and climate factors: location, altitude, exposure, bedrock, rough matter, slope and shelter

•Five vine factors: type of vine, planting density, yield, training system, and vine age

Question 13

Porto and Douro DOP yields

Answer 13

• White - 65hl/ha

* Red - 55hl/ha

Question 14

What is the minimum of preferred grapes for Port? What are the preferred red varieties?

Answer 14

MIN 60% of the blend
•Touriga Nacional
•Touriga Francesa
•Tinta Roriz
•Tinta Cão
•Tinta Barroca
•Tinta Amarela
•Tinta Francisca
•Bastardo
•Mourisco Tinto

Question 15

What is the minimum of preferred grapes for Port? What are the preferred white varieties?

Answer 15

MIN 60% of the blend
•Gouveio
•Malvasia Fina
•Viosinho
•Rabigato
•Esgana Cão
•Folgasão

Question 16

What are the two types of plantings in the Douro? What are their respective yields?

Answer 16

• Vinhos ao Alto (4,000hl/ha): abandoning terraces in favor of planting vines in vertical rows leading directly up the slopes
• Patamares (3,000hl/ha): wide terraces that can be navigated by tractor; more common

**Grapes are harvested by hand

Question 17

What are “lagares”?

Answer 17

Low, open granite troughs that grapes destined for port were foot-crushed and fermented in

Question 18

What Algerian vinification technology is used by modern port houses today?

Answer 18

Autovinifiers - fermenting wine is pumped over the cap by virtue of its own buildup of gas
•Became more common during labor shortages in the 1960s and 1970s

Question 19

Name four methods for crushing grapes for Port.

Answer 19

• By foot
• Using fermentation tanks adapted for Port wine
• Robotic treading machines
• Plunger tanks, which push the cap down into the juice below

Question 20

What is the term for foritification in the Douro?

Answer 20

Beneficio

Question 21

When does beneficio occur for Port? Explain the process.

Answer 21

When approximately one-third of the sugar content has been converted to alcohol
•Aguardente is added (77% abv neutral grape spirit)
•Fortified to 19-22% abv
•For most Port, aguardente will be add in a 1:4 ratio

Question 22

Who pioneered white and rosé ports?

Answer 22

Croft

Question 23

What is a traditional barrel used for both aging and shipping Port?

Answer 23

Pipe, although they vary in size:
•Douro Valley - 550 L
•Vila Nova de Gaia - 620 L
•Shipping pipe - 534.24 L
•Marsala - 423 L (shipping)
•Madeira - 418 L  (shipping)

Question 24

Name 3 Port houses with English roots.

Answer 24

•Warre & Co.
•Croft
•Taylor’s
*All established by 1700

Question 25

What are “feitoria”?

Answer 25

The best vineyards in Portugal that were classified in the 18th century and marked with stones, signifying fruit reserved for the English market

Question 26

What were vineyards called in Portugal destined for domestic wines in the 18th century?

Answer 26

rama

Question 27

What are the mountain ranges of the Douro?

Answer 27

Marão and Montemuro Mountains

Question 28

What are the subzones of the Douro?
•Highest density?
•Largest, most sparsely planted?
•Most vineyard acreage?

Answer 28

• Baixo Corgo - highest density
• Cima Corgo - highest total vineyard acreage
• Douro Superior - largest, most sparsely planted

Question 29

What ships were used to transport Port casks to Vila Nova de Gaia?

Answer 29

Barco Rabelo ships from Pinhão in Cima Corgo

Question 30

What is Porto Branco Leve Seco?

Answer 30

AKA Light Dry White Port - lower abv of 16.5% and ages in oak between 5-10 years, losing its residual suagar as it ages

Question 31

What is “Lágrima”?

Answer 31

The sweetest white port