The classification of fortified Portuguese wines from the banks of the Douro River, known throughout the world as port or, more simply, port wine, for all its apparent simplicity, is very multifaceted …
How Port is Made Briefly
At first, the future port is aged for two or three years in huge wooden vats. Then, master winemakers decide to which category the resulting result should be attributed.
As a result, the available wine either continues to mature in relatively small oak barrels that provide access to a sufficient amount of oxygen, or is sent to mature in hermetically sealed bottles.
At the same time, for the manufacture of both types of drink, in most cases, red varieties of grapes are used, although, if you try hard, you can also find white varieties of it.
port wine, what is it and how to drink
Port wine maturing in barrels
Tawny (tan)
A port that has undergone two to four years of additional aging. One of the most popular types of drink.
It differs in various shades of amber-brown color and nutty notes in taste.
At the same time, the necessary taste and color is often achieved through half-permissible vinification techniques and the addition of white grape port to the blend.
Tawny Reserve
A drink that has spent six to nine years in barrels, which must be indicated on the label.
Aged Tawny
Port wine, whose aging time is measured in decades.
It is divided into 10-year-old, 20-year-old, 30-year-old and 40-year-old.
The age of such a drink must be indicated on the bottle.
At the same time, it can be somewhat subjective, since it is not the age of the main wine in the blend, but the ideas of the master winemaker about the quality of a particular drink.
According to the general judgment, this type of port should be consumed immediately after purchase, since a long stay in the bottle can have a negative effect on its organoleptic.
Colheita (harvest – port.) or Old Tawny (old tony – English)
Wine (rarely a blend of wines) of the same harvest. Determined by the end of the first ten years spent in the barrel.
If the outstanding qualities of the contents of the container are not in doubt, the drink continues to mature under the special care of experts.
This port wine has a golden amber color and a more refined taste.
Bottles marked Colheita must indicate the year of harvest and the date of bottling.
Garrafeira (bottled – port.)
A kind of intermediate option between port wines, ripening in barrels and maturing in bottles.
After seven years spent in a barrel, such a drink, without subjecting it to blending, is placed in special large dark glass bottles.
There it matures for at least eight years, after which it is bottled in standard bottles and goes on sale.
The labels of such wine indicate the year of harvest and the date of bottling.
In addition, for the production of Garrafeira, the winemaker must receive a special “blessing” from the Douro and Porto Wine Institute (IVDP), a government agency that determines the standardization and export volumes of port wine.
Port aged in bottles
Ruby (red or ruby - eng.)
Three-year freshly bottled wine with a sharp fruity taste. Recommended for immediate use.
Ruby Reserve (Red Selected – English)
The same slightly aged port ruby port wine, but made from higher quality grape varieties.
Hence, a softer and richer initial taste and the ability to hold the wine in the hope of further maturation.
Branco (white – port., aka – White – English)
Produced according to the Ruby principle but from white grapes.
In general, it is somewhat inferior to its red counterpart in terms of organoleptics, but, unlike the latter, it has an official gradation in terms of sugar content: from extra-dry to liquor (Lágrima – tear of port.).
The presence of the Reserve mark on a bottle of young white port implies the addition of some more aged wine to it.
Rose (pink – port.)
It is produced according to a simplified technology with a preliminary aging period in barrels not exceeding two to three months.
It is used mainly in youth cocktails.
Crusted
An unfiltered red blend that matures in bottles for three or more years before being sold.
Only the year of bottling is indicated on its label. Has good potential for further maturation.
Vintage
The same legendary best port wine; an elite unfiltered drink of a single vintage, typically lasting 15 to 50 years in the bottle.
To declare a vintage year, the consensus of the nine largest port wine producers and the official approval of the IVDP is necessary.
Most of the vintage port spends about two years in barrels, is sold immediately after bottling and continues to mature in the bins of its happy owners (the latter mainly include large wine merchants).
Single Quinta Vintage
A special case of a vintage obtained in a non-vintage year.
On bottles with such drinks, the farm (kinta) in which the grapes were grown is necessarily indicated.
Late Bottled Vintage
A very expensive port wine, which includes several varieties of products from winemakers from the banks of the Douro River.
First: these are wines that, in the vintage year, fell just short of the highest standards.
Second: really vintage drinks, aged in barrels so as not to overload the market (they are also informally called Baby Vintage). LBV-style drinks are aged for up to six years in large oak tanks, and then, for another three years, in ordinary bottles.
After that, this port goes on sale. On the labels of such wines, both the year of harvest and the year of bottling are indicated.
It is noteworthy that before bottling, LBV can either be filtered or remain unfiltered (Unfiltered – English or Não filtrado – port.).
The first option, initially ready for use, is softer and more delicate.
The second one, which has remarkable potential for further development in the bottle, is intended for lovers of original rich wines.
Now you understand all types of port wine and will easily be able to find your perfect drink.
Tips for choosing port wine in the store.
Relevance: 26.06.2017
Tags: wine and vermouth