Port

Question 1

What are the two cities that are most important to the activities of Port production?

Answer 1

Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia

Question 2

What are the main vineyard areas for port production, from coolest to hottest?

Answer 2

• Baixa Corgo
• Cima Corgo
• Douro Superior

Question 3

What is the mountain range that protects the Douro Valley from rain-bearing Atlantic winds?

Answer 3

Serra do Marão

Question 4

What are some of the main climactic challenges for grape growing in the Douro Valley?

Answer 4

• Frosts in spring

- Heavy downpours that can disrupt flowering and harvest

Question 5

Summer daytime temperatures in the Douro Valley can be very high and rainfall is often very low. What makes viticulture possible in this region?

Answer 5

Schist bedrock, which fractures vertically and allows the vines’ roots to access deep water reserves that are built up by winter rains.

Question 6

What are socalcos and what challenges do they present?

Answer 6

• Traditional terraced vineyards in the Douro Valley supported by stone walls.
• They are very narrow, so each terrace can only support a few rows of vines, and no vineyard mechanization is possible. The walls are also expensive to maintain.

Question 7

What distinguishes patamares from socalcos?

Answer 7

Patamares are a new style of terrace that do not have the retaining stone walls unique to socalcos, and also are wide enough for tractors, making mechanization possible.

Question 8

What is vinha ao alto?

Answer 8

A planting system where vines are planted up and down a slope, with roads cutting across from which machinery is operated by winches.

Question 9

Why is the socalco system still widely used in the Douro Valley, despite its expense?

Answer 9

The other farming systems (patamares and vinha ao alto) are prone to erosion, and vinha ao alto is not possible on the steepest slopes.

Question 10

What are the five varieties used in Port production?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

At what ABV is Port fermentation stopped by fortification?

Answer 11

5-9%

Question 12

How long does Port typically ferment?

Answer 12

24-36 hours

Question 13

Why is Port wine subjected to highly vigorous extraction techniques?

Answer 13

Fermentation for Port is stopped early, at about 5-9% ABV to retain sweetness, which usually only takes about 24-36 hours. Because the fermentation time is so short, there is not enough time to extract color and tannin from the skin via traditional methods, so more vigorous techniques must be used.

Question 14

What are the three extraction techniques used in Port production?

Answer 14

• Foot treading
• Autovinifiers
• Piston plungers / robotic lagares

Question 15

What is a lagar?

Answer 15

A shallow granite trough that teams of workers will tread grapes in for traditional Port production.

Question 16

How long does foot-treading last when done in a traditional, manual style?

Answer 16

Three to four hours.

Question 17

What is an autovinifier and how does it work?

Answer 17

• One of the earliest methods to automate extraction for Port wine:
• Crushed grapes are put into sealed vats
• Rising CO2 pressure forces the juice up through pipes into a holding tank
• When the pressure of the CO2 reaches a set level a valve is released and the wine from the tank floods back down onto the cap.
• The valve resets and the process starts again.

Question 18

What is the primary difference between using an autovinifier and pumping over?

Answer 18

Autovinifiers result in a much higher level of extraction because they bring the juice into contact with the cap much more than traditional pumpovers, completing a cycle every 15-20 minutes.

Question 19

How does a piston plunger work?

Answer 19

Robotic pistons press the cap down regularly in a round shallow open-topped, stainless steel vat.

Question 20

What is the name of the spirit used to fortify Port and what is the maximum ABV it can have?

Answer 20

• Aguardente

- No more than 77% ABV

Question 21

What is the average percentage of spirit in a bottle of Port?

Answer 21

20%

Question 22

Why is Vila Nova de Gaia well suited for Port maturation? Which style of Port is the exception to this, and why?

Answer 22

• It has a cooler coastal climate that helps the wine mature slowly.
• Tawny Ports have traditionally been aged in the Douro, where the hotter climate results in faster aging and a loss in color.

Question 23

What is the primary difference between ruby and tawny styles of Port?

Answer 23

Oxidative aging

Question 24

Which styles of Port benefit from bottle aging?

Answer 24

Some LBVs and all Vintage Ports

Question 25

At what point in Port production does blending occur?

Answer 25

Blending is an ongoing process in Port production that can happen all the way up to bottling, and is frequently done throughout pre-bottle maturation.

Question 26

What is the legal minimum of wood-aging required for a Reserve Tawny Port?

Answer 26

Six years

Question 27

How old is an average, non-reserve ruby or tawny Port upon release?

Answer 27

One to three years old

Question 28

How many years of aging does a Late Bottled Vintage Port receive before bottling? What is the purpose of this extra aging?

Answer 28

• Four to six years

- Helps to make these wines more approachable on release, compared to Vintage Ports

Question 29

What is a Single Quinta Vintage Port and what purpose do they serve for producers?

Answer 29

• A vintage Port that is the product of a single estate, or quinta.
• In years that are not good enough for a traditional, blended Vintage Port to be declared, producers will instead release individual Single Quinta Vintage Ports based on which quintas had the best harvests.