Fortified Wines - Port

Question 1

Red Port grape varietals

Answer 1

• Touriga Nacional
• Touriga Franca
• Tinta Cão
• Tinta Roriz
• Tinta Barroca
• Bastardo

Question 2

White Port grape varietals

Answer 2

• Arinto
• Codega
• Malvasia Fina
• Malvasia Corada
• Rabigato
• Viosinho

Question 3

Define: Patamares

Answer 3

Wider terraces that can be navigated by tractor.

Question 4

Production methods of Port wine

Answer 4

1. The grapes are destemmed (fully or partially) and crushed.
2. Autovinifiers are comon at this times, which the fermenting wine would be pumped over the cap by virtue of its own buildup of gas.
3. Once the winemaker has reached the desired amount of residual sugar, the fermenting wine is pressed off the solids and prepared for fortification.
4. Fortification occurs when approximately one-third of the sugar content has been converted to alcohol. The wine is fortified to 19-22% abv. by the addition of aguardente, a 77% abv neutral grape spirit. For most Port, aguardente will be added to the fermenting wine in a 1:4 ratio.
5. The choices following fortification, namely the length of aging and the type of vessel, determine the final style of the wine.

Question 5

Define: Lagar

Answer 5

Open granite troughs where grapes were foot-crushed and fermented.

Question 6

Define: Beneficio

Answer 6

The fortification of wine with spirit. Known to the French as mutage. The process halts fermentation, killing the yeasts and preserving sweetness in the Port.

Question 7

Why are Port wines fortified?

Answer 7

Because imparts the robustness necessary for the new Port to reach a proper maturity.

Question 8

Define: Pipe

Answer 8

A Pipe is the traditional barrel used for both aging and shipping Port wine, varies in size. Pipes used in the Douro Valley usually hold 550 liters, whereas pipes in Vila Nova de Gaia may often contain 620 liters. The size of a pipe used for shipping Port is set at 534.24 liters, although pipes used for shipping Madeira or Marsala are smaller.

Question 9

Historically, where was aging taking place?

Answer 9

In Oporto because of the cooler air of the coast which is preferable to the warmer Douro DOP for long-term maturation.

Question 10

What are the two broad and fundamental styles of Port?

Answer 10

Ruby and Tawny

Question 11

List all types of Ruby Port

Answer 11

1. Ruby Port
2. Ruby Reserve Port
3. Vintage Port
4. Single Quinta Vintage Port
5. Late-Bottled Vintage Port

Question 12

Describe a Ruby Port

Answer 12

With the exception of well-aged, venerable Vintage Ports, Ruby Port wines will display darker colour, more youthful fruit and spice tones and more aggressive fiery character.

This is often aged in bulk (in wood, cement or stainless steel) for two to three years prior to bottling. The wine is uncomplicated, deeply colored and inexpensive. Ruby Port does not carry a vintage date.

Question 13

Describe a Ruby Reserve Port

Answer 13

Offers more complexity and character than a basic Ruby Port

Question 14

Describe a Vintage Port

Answer 14

The most expensive style of Port to purchase and constitutes approximately 1-3% production. A port house will usually declare a vintage year only in exceptional harvests - often a given house will, on average, declare a vintage three years out of every decade.

Vintage Port must be authorized by the IVDP, and is aged in cask before being bottled by July 30 of the third year after harvest.

Vintage Port will continue to develop in the bottle for decades, shedding brash fruit in favour of more complex attributes, although many bottles are consumed in their youth. Mature Vintage Port requires decanting, as it develop a significant deposit in the bottle.

Question 15

Describe a Single Quinta Vintage Port

Answer 15

Is the product of one estate’s harvest. Often, if a Port house cannot confidently declare a vintage, it may nonetheless showcase the fruit of one of its better estates as a vintage wine.

Single quinta wines are made in the same fashion as other Vintage Ports, and will improve with additional bottle age.

Question 16

Describe a Late-botteld Vintage Port

Answer 16

Spends between four and six years in cask prior to bottling. Thus, the wines obtain some of the mellowed tones of a Tawny Port, while retaining the youthful fruit and directness of a Ruby Port.

LBV Port is always the product of a single vintage, but quality may vary greatly. The majority of LBV wines are filtered prior to bottling and they will not require decanting and do not usually improve with additional bottle age. However, superior styles may achieve quality nearer that of a true Vintage Port and improve with bottle age.

Question 17

What does mean Envelhecido em Garrafa

Answer 17

Indicates an additional minimum three years of bottle aging.

Can be found on LBV Port wines.

Question 18

List all types of Tawny Port

Answer 18

1. Tawny
2. Reserve Tawny
3. Tawny with Indication of Age
4. Colheita Tawny
5. Garrafeira

Question 19

Describe a Tawny Port

Answer 19

Cask-aged and develop more complex, mature tones to toffee, dried fruits and toasted nuts with time. Tawny Port naturally develops lighter amber tones of colour as it ages in wood.

Many wines labeled as Tawny Port do not undergo the extensive cask aging that is critical to the style, but are simply paler wines - due to the provenance of grapes, a less-thorough extraction or the addition of white Porto to the blend.

Question 20

Describe a Reserve Tawny

Answer 20

Those age for at least seven years prior to bottling. Reserve Tawny wines are blended from several vintages, and retain some youthful freshness while gaining a hint of the creamy, delicate nature of a true old Tawny. Tawny Port will not improve with additional bottle age.

Question 21

Describe a Tawny with Indication of Age

Answer 21

May be labeled as 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 Years Old.

These wines show more concentrated and developed character, reaching a pronounced oxidative, rancio state by forty years of age. Usually made from high-quality fruit and matured in seasoned wood. Typically, such Ports are racked once annually, often freshened with additional spirit or wine as evaporation takes its natural course, and are finally blended together prior to bottling.

The age indication is not an average age of the blended wines in the bottle, but rather an approximation. The IVDP deems a Port labeled “10 Years Old Tawny” to taste like a 10 Year Old Tawny, regardless of the wine’s actual age.

Question 22

Describe a Colheita Tawny

Answer 22

Vintage-dated Port that spends a minimum of seven years in cast - many stay in cask for decades. Some producers will not bottle Colheita Tawny Ports until an order is received.

Question 23

Describe the Port vineyards and Soils

Answer 23

Vineyards are planted on steep slopes on terraces

Soil is composed of SCHIST which is a metamorphic rock with layers that allows the vine roots to penetrate and grow

Question 24

Classic vintages declared since 1990 by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto (IVDP)

Answer 24

1994 - 1997 - 2000 - 2003 - 2007 - 2011 - 2016 - 2017

Question 25

Describe a Garrafeira Port

Answer 25

Vintage dated Tawny 4-8 years in wood followed by ageing in glass demijohns for minimum 15 years.

Currently only produced by Niepoort

Question 26

Subzones of Port DOP production

Answer 26

• Baixo Corgo
• Cima Corgo
• Douro Superior

Question 27

Traditional location for maturing Port Wine

Answer 27

Port casks were transported by Barco Rabelo ships from Pinhão in the Cima Corgo downriver to Vila Nova de Gaia, a suburb of Oporto for maturation in their lodges.

Question 28

What important law changed in 1986?

Answer 28

Removing restrictions of having to mature and ship Port Wine in Vila Nova de Gaia lodges.

Question 29

Where are the best vines used for Port Wine grown?

Answer 29

In the schist-dominated vineyards of the hotter and drier Cima Corgo.