PortTalk

Dry January working out well for you?

Well done all you smugladites who have managed this – you are a stronger man than I. Not only that, I have a list of (fortified) wines to study longer than my arm and I’m not entirely sure I’ve got it in me.  I love most wines – but not sure how my taste buds will stand up under exam pressure scrutinising the idiosyncrasies of a 10 or 20 year tawny Port.  I also have to fight the urge to get out a huge slab of Stilton and whack on the fire.

This is for those of you who need a little more encouragement on dry January:

http://www.dryjanuary.org.uk/

For anyone like me who is just crossing their fingers and hoping for their waistline to shrink, here’s the crack with one type of fortified wine, Port.

Port, Port lovely Port.

Christ, this was good.

Before I took up a keen interest in Port, I used to drink it as per wine. 125ml minimum, usually with food on the side.  Following a trip to a very lovely guesthouse some years ago and wondering why they gave you a ‘taster’ portion first when ordering Port, I learnt a valuable lesson. Not only that I was one greedy, ill-informed customer who now had a reason to her post-Port stomach aches but there was a whole WORLD out there of variation that needed to be explored. Give me a break – I grew up in a pretty much non-drinking household other than ale and fizz at Christmas and we’re not born with this knowledge, right?!

First off, fortified means adding alcohol either during, or after fermentation of the grapes.  Port comes in red, white and rosé and quality levels vary.  The vineyard area for Port is in the Upper Douro, with three key sub areas; Baixa Corgo, Cima Corgo (classic area for premium Ports) and Douro Superior.  The first two have really steep slopes with terracing and the latter is flatter; all of which have an effect of the vines in terms of sunshine, drainage, sunlight…and therefore affect the end grape. 

In winemaking, extraction of the colour and tannin is key – this has to be done quickly (2-3 days). Now it is rare to see traditional techniques (treading with feet) as extraction isn’t quick enough.  Love the romance of it, but it’s just not practical, so machines are widely used. Once the grapes have started fermenting, alcohol is added (77% ABV grape spirit). This is different to sherry which is fortified after fermentation. Adding the alcohol during fermentation stops the process, leaving behind some of the sugar as the high alcohol kills any yeasts.  Following this, the style depends on how the wine is treated.   Here’s the low down on Port lingo, many of these terms you may see on the bottle.

Waitrose Tawny

Basic styles of Port include:

Aldi Ruby Port -
it's won lots of
awards,
don't you know.

-    Ruby - Fresh, fruity and robust, these are stored in large oak barrels, with up to three years ageing.  Try Fletcher's Ruby Port - a steal at £6.29, Aldi. Rich and velvety, great value. Aldi continue to drive good value with their wines.

-          Tawny – These are the same age as ruby Ports, but given oxidative conditions to gain a tawny hue. Pictured tawny from Waitrose, £8.49.

-          White –Modern examples are unaged but some rare examples do exist which show a little colour. A modern, light and fresh example is from Tesco, £8.50.

Tesco's White Port

-          Rosé – this is quite a recent market trend led by Croft which is made in a similar way to rosé wine, with limited exposure to the grape skins.

-          http://www.croftpink.com/en/

  

There are also special categories of Port which you may see on the label.  Here is a summary of them….

	Reserve	Vintage	Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)	Crusted	Single Quinta Vintage	10- 40 year	Colheita	Garrafeira
Ruby	Premium Port approved by the authorities. Better than 'just' Port.	Only the best years	Filtered or unfiltered. Single vintage with 4-6 years maturation.	Single vintage or blended. Bottled unfiltered.	Made from a single estate, in a good year (declared vintage).	Refers to length of time ageing in oak.		Rare vintage dated style of Port, single harvest with oxidative reductive maturation in large glass demijohns.
Tawny							From a single vintage, where the year is given rather than the age in years.	Term can be found on bottles of exceptional age.
White		Rare				Very rare.

If you are going to spend a bit more on Port, steer clear of the supermarkets and get down to your local independant. If you are going to spend a bit, you need to get it right. 

So I raise a glass to a wet, fortified January. Have fun with yours. x