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Port Wine - avoid it if you don't have what it takes to fall in love

The world is more divided in terms of preference for wine than ever before.  Some subscribe to the old saying "The first duty of wine is to be red...the second is to be a Burgundy" - Waugh.  Others lament "The only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne" - Keynes.   Many prefer new-world wines of the southern hemisphere. Then there are those who do whites only because reds are too dense for their palates.   Everyone has a good point.  But if you walk into a room full of wine connoisseurs, holding a decanter of Port wine, you'd be lucky to have a glass of it left for yourself.  Port is without question or fuss, a universal wine-lover's favorite.

So what is Port wine?  

Port was originally from Portugal in a city called Oporto. (Guess that quickly answers the question of why it is called Port, doesn't it?) Various good renditions of Port can now be found elsewhere like Australia, America and South Africa.  Certainly there are some notable efforts but most are not (yet) up or par with the genuine article from Portugal.

 

                                        (Caption:

                              Port is not for the very young, the vain and the active. It is the comfort of age and the companion of the scholar and the philosopher.

-Evelyn Waugh)

 

 

 

Port wine gained popularity in Britain during the 18th century when France and England were at each other's throat all the time.  French wine were all but banned in England.  Portugal was not a part of the quarrel but Portuguese (dry) wine couldn't ingratiate itself with the spoiled palates of the English.  The sweet fortified style was an instant success; so much so that British winemakers and merchants migrated to Portugal to set up shop there.  Even today, famous houses that rank among the most revered Port producers, sport English names like Dow, Taylor and Graham.

 

It seems like everything in 21st century Earth has to be compartmentalized into neat genres so try looking for Port in the pigeonhole called "Fortified Wine".  Personally I find the tag a bit denigrating; smacks of a feeble wine desperately needing help to make it palatable.  It makes people wonder if Port is wine at all.

 

To be sure, Port is a type of wine, structurally modified if you must but still every bit, wine.  Purists can protest by pointing out that the Port-making process involves adding of brandy at the end – hence described as fortified - so technically it is not wine per se; point taken.

 

Just like the production of Champagne starts with the making of white wine, the first step with Port is to make red wine.  Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão and Tinta Amarela are grapes used in making Port.  Touriga Nacional makes world-class red wine that gives Rioja, Brunello and Malbec a run for their money.

 

Port weighs in at 20% alcohol strength (typically 12% from wine and 8% from brandy) compared to 12-14% for most dry wine.   When the fermentation reaches about 12% alcohol, potent grape spirit brandy is added to raise the wine's strength to 20%, at the same time arresting the fermentation process.   This is where the course is altered and destiny is changed from Wine to Port.  That abrupt halt to the fermentation by the way also causes the wine to be sweet with no sugar added.  Let me explain.

 

We all know that fermentation is about converting sugar in sweet grape juice into alcohol.    When the alcohol level exceeds 14%, yeasts gets lazy and stop fermenting sugar into alcohol.  Arresting the fermentation causes a lot of unfermented natural sugar – called residual sugar - to be left in the wine.

 

There is nothing esoteric about Port, probably because it managed to elude modern wine journalism.  For starters, we don't have to talk about terroir, nor was there ever a Paris Challenge to settle an epic dispute of very little consequences.  Nobody will approach you with a glass of Port asking you to recognize its region and producer.  This might actually be one of the last remaining sanctuaries not contaminated by ratings. When I drink Port with family and friends, it seems like only two things matter: savoring the wine and wondering whether I can afford another bottle after it.

 

At the risk of oversimplification, Port is about vintage and honor; vintage because it is about the weather condition of each year and honor because it has a lot to do with each winemaker's preservation of his/her goodwill (more on this in a minute).  Port has a very old rules and goodwill can't be established overnight with RP ratings and clever tricks like mailing lists.   I'll leave it at that lest this develops into something more polemic than I bargained for.  But I will discuss vintage and honor shortly.

 

Port is not a simple wine.  In fact, it is rather complex, arguably more so than red wine, yet deceivingly easy to enjoy.  There are several styles of port; each serves a different purpose, addresses a different market segment, and fits snugly into Port lovers' myriad whims, desires and budgets.   The top of the line is a rare and inevitably expensive Vintage Port.

 

Vintage port is like vintage wine, meant to improve with age inside the bottle over many years.  It is made from grapes of a single harvest. The vintage (year) appears on the label.  These are very rare, expensive and not meant to be drunk young.  I opened a 1970 Diez just the other evening and it was vigorous and robust, redolent of chocolate and black fruit flavors.  At 40 years of age it was a class act of power,

elegance and style all contained in one neat silky package.  When I had the same wine about 15 years ago its tannic structure was a little abrasive.  We'll come back to talk about Vintage Port at length a bit later but first let's run through a few other (more budget-friendly) styles of port.

 

Late-Bottled Vintage or LBV Port is also a kind of vintage port except that it is softened up by several more years of maturation in a barrel before bottling.  The whole idea is to make LBV ready to drink upon release which is usually 5-7 years after the harvest. While the best wine goes to making Vintage Port, runner ups make it to this format but quality is still of the highest standards. LBVs wear a friendlier price tag of around Php 1,200 to 2,400; they are excellent values for Port lovers. 

 

Another similar style is the Colheita Port which is a softer and more ready-to-drink version of LBV.  For unknown reasons Colheitas are seldom seen in the market these days.  These are a bit like Bordeaux's practice of offering a "second wine" made from quality grapes that can't go into the Grand Vin main label.  They often are excellent value for money.  

 

Single Quinta Vintage Port is probably the nearest thing to a genuine Vintage Port.  Vintage Ports are made from wines from several vineyards called quintas.   The very best grapes are selected from each site to create complex alchemy of their distinctive characters.  Single Quinta Vintage Port breaks that tradition by using grapes from a specific (single) quinta.  This approach delivers what wine lovers call "terroir" or site personality on top of distinctive qualities of the climate and harvest conditions of the vintage year alone.  Prices, and to a certain extent quality also, approach those of Vintage Ports. p2,500 to p4,500 for a young bottle is not unreasonable.

 

Tawny Port is akin to Non-Vintage Champagne.  There is no year on the label and it is completely ready to drink upon release.  Tawny Port comprises of wine from more than one year.  It undergoes extensive ageing in barrels and then filtered (to get rid of sediments) before bottling.  Oxidation causes the once-dark color of Port to lighten and acquire a tawny hue (hence the name).   Entry-level Tawny Port can be purchased at around p600 a bottle.  When you see words like Ten-Year-Old or Twenty-Year-Old on the label of a Tawny Port, you are looking at pretty fancy stuff; so expect to pay a fancy but fair price of p1,200 to 3,600.   The least expensive port is called Ruby Port.  Despite starting at just p300/bottle, it is not good value for money; hardly even worthy of being called Port in most cases.

 

Now back to Vintage Port again, particularly the subject of honor.

 

Declaring A Vintage – an honor system

 

Vintage Port is produced only about 3-4 times in a decade.  No, it is not because of Government regulations or event acts of God.  It is an honor system, self regulated and one that has governed more effectively, and most say more fairly, than any set of laws known to the wine trade.  The system is called declaration and it is quite simple; perhaps that's why it works.  Producers have a year after the harvest to ponder over a decision to declare a vintage or to abstain, a decision that hinges on their confidence about the quality of the wine of that year.

 

Although reputation (and pride of course) factors heavily into the making of world-class wines like Petrus, La Tache and Sassicaia, money is nevertheless very much a part of the equation.   That's not so in the case of Vintage Port.  The quantity of Vintage Port is so small that it makes up an insignificant percentage of the producer's annual revenue.  Declassifying a whole vintage of Petrus is almost unthinkable but all Port-houses do so routinely 6-7 times a decade.  Money is not at stake here, but reputation is; perhaps ego too.  There is no bad vintage port.  Unfortunately, this also means that there isn't any cheap Vintage Port either.  Expect to pay at least p4,000 for a young bottle that demands 5-10 years of waiting in the cellars, p12,000 for 20-year-old and the moon for rare old bottles.

 

The longevity of Port wine is legendary second perhaps only to Madeira.  In fact, Port ages much better than most dry wine.  Its high alcohol content protects its well against excessive oxidation which turns wine eventually into vinegar.  Excellent 50-year bottles of Port - still fresh and vibrant - are living testament to Port's longevity.  Some of the best vintages are 1945, 1955, 1963, 1977, 1994 and 1997.  1985 is probably the only noteworthy vintage in the disappointing decade of the 80s that is drinking nicely now.

 

So how does one enjoy a good bottle of Port?  With a great deal of respect.  Other than the fact that it is sweet, everything else is the same as wine.  A Vintage Port is expected to achieve excellent balance between its natural sweetness, fresh acidity and a firm structure of tannins.  It has to have plenty of flesh to cover the bones, a good long and steady finish (aftertaste) to extend the experience beyond the swallow.  With age, we can expect a new kind of charm, distinction if you will, emergence of elegance, complexity and depth of flavors from its maturity to a point where one would not even attempt to describe it in words anymore.

 

If I were given one dying wish for a bottle of Port, hands down without a doubt, it would be the legendary 1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port specially qualified as "Touriga Nacional"; literally to die for.  Other great bottles include 63 and 77 Dow, 55 Graham and the 45 Taylor.  Bottles to lay down for your sons and daughters include 94, 97 and 2000 vintage port.  For current drinking at a reasonably affordable price, I opt for a Barros 95 and Feist 87 and 85.  These are not stellar vintages but they are good value for money.

 

The classic pairing for Vintage Port is the king of blue cheeses - English Blue Stilton - served over water biscuits accompanied by lightly salted roasted almonds.  For younger and more tannic ports a piece of dark chocolate (65+% cocoa) matches well

with the chocolate flavors indigenous to the Port.  Matured Port goes very well with braised meat in rich reduction sauces.

 

If you have a cellar at home I would argue that the best candidate for space in that precious piece of real estate is Vintage Port.  Value appreciation in Vintage Port out-performs dry wine mainly because prices on release of dry wine tend to be too high.  Upside in investment in dry wine is not lucrative and fatality rates of dry wine rise exponentially beyond 30 or 40 years of age.  The risks of Vintage Port going bad inside the bottle are much lower.  Port's high alcohol strength protects it well against oxidation. 

 

If you need any more reasons to make that shift in your wine investment strategies to Port, here is a possible deal closer.  When the head longs for a shoulder to rest on, arms hungry for a warm body to wrap around or teeth overly anxious to sink into something unthinkable, this tawny-hued clone of a wine if you will, always hits the spot. 

 

Port was originally from Portugal in a city called Oporto. (Guess that quickly answers the question of why it is called Port, doesn't it?) Various good renditions of Port can now be found elsewhere like Australia, America and South Africa.  Certainly there are some notable efforts but most are not (yet) up or par with the genuine article from Portugal.

 

                                        (Caption:

                              Port is not for the very young, the vain and the active. It is the comfort of age and the companion of the scholar and the philosopher.

-Evelyn Waugh)

 

 

 

Port wine gained popularity in Britain during the 18th century when France and England were at each other's throat all the time.  French wine were all but banned in England.  Portugal was not a part of the quarrel but Portuguese (dry) wine couldn't ingratiate itself with the spoiled palates of the English.  The sweet fortified style was an instant success; so much so that British winemakers and merchants migrated to Portugal to set up shop there.  Even today, famous houses that rank among the most revered Port producers, sport English names like Dow, Taylor and Graham.

 

It seems like everything in 21st century Earth has to be compartmentalized into neat genres so try looking for Port in the pigeonhole called "Fortified Wine".  Personally I find the tag a bit denigrating; smacks of a feeble wine desperately needing help to make it palatable.  It makes people wonder if Port is wine at all.

 

To be sure, Port is a type of wine, structurally modified if you must but still every bit, wine.  Purists can protest by pointing out that the Port-making process involves adding of brandy at the end – hence described as fortified - so technically it is not wine per se; point taken.

 

Just like the production of Champagne starts with the making of white wine, the first step with Port is to make red wine.  Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão and Tinta Amarela are grapes used in making Port.  Touriga Nacional makes world-class red wine that gives Rioja, Brunello and Malbec a run for their money.

 

Port weighs in at 20% alcohol strength (typically 12% from wine and 8% from brandy) compared to 12-14% for most dry wine.   When the fermentation reaches about 12% alcohol, potent grape spirit brandy is added to raise the wine's strength to 20%, at the same time arresting the fermentation process.   This is where the course is altered and destiny is changed from Wine to Port.  That abrupt halt to the fermentation by the way also causes the wine to be sweet with no sugar added.  Let me explain.

 

We all know that fermentation is about converting sugar in sweet grape juice into alcohol.    When the alcohol level exceeds 14%, yeasts gets lazy and stop fermenting sugar into alcohol.  Arresting the fermentation causes a lot of unfermented natural sugar – called residual sugar - to be left in the wine.

 

There is nothing esoteric about Port, probably because it managed to elude modern wine journalism.  For starters, we don't have to talk about terroir, nor was there ever a Paris Challenge to settle an epic dispute of very little consequences.  Nobody will approach you with a glass of Port asking you to recognize its region and producer.  This might actually be one of the last remaining sanctuaries not contaminated by ratings. When I drink Port with family and friends, it seems like only two things matter: savoring the wine and wondering whether I can afford another bottle after it.

 

At the risk of oversimplification, Port is about vintage and honor; vintage because it is about the weather condition of each year and honor because it has a lot to do with each winemaker's preservation of his/her goodwill (more on this in a minute).  Port has a very old rules and goodwill can't be established overnight with RP ratings and clever tricks like mailing lists.   I'll leave it at that lest this develops into something more polemic than I bargained for.  But I will discuss vintage and honor shortly.

 

Port is not a simple wine.  In fact, it is rather complex, arguably more so than red wine, yet deceivingly easy to enjoy.  There are several styles of port; each serves a different purpose, addresses a different market segment, and fits snugly into Port lovers' myriad whims, desires and budgets.   The top of the line is a rare and inevitably expensive Vintage Port.

 

Vintage port is like vintage wine, meant to improve with age inside the bottle over many years.  It is made from grapes of a single harvest. The vintage (year) appears on the label.  These are very rare, expensive and not meant to be drunk young.  I opened a 1970 Diez just the other evening and it was vigorous and robust, redolent of chocolate and black fruit flavors.  At 40 years of age it was a class act of power, 

elegance and style all contained in one neat silky package.  When I had the same wine about 15 years ago its tannic structure was a little abrasive.  We'll come back to talk about Vintage Port at length a bit later but first let's run through a few other (more budget-friendly) styles of port.

 

Late-Bottled Vintage or LBV Port is also a kind of vintage port except that it is softened up by several more years of maturation in a barrel before bottling.  The whole idea is to make LBV ready to drink upon release which is usually 5-7 years after the harvest. While the best wine goes to making Vintage Port, runner ups make it to this format but quality is still of the highest standards. LBVs wear a friendlier price tag of around Php 1,200 to 2,400; they are excellent values for Port lovers. 

 

Another similar style is the Colheita Port which is a softer and more ready-to-drink version of LBV.  For unknown reasons Colheitas are seldom seen in the market these days.  These are a bit like Bordeaux's practice of offering a "second wine" made from quality grapes that can't go into the Grand Vin main label.  They often are excellent value for money.  

 

Single Quinta Vintage Port is probably the nearest thing to a genuine Vintage Port.  Vintage Ports are made from wines from several vineyards called quintas.   The very best grapes are selected from each site to create complex alchemy of their distinctive characters.  Single Quinta Vintage Port breaks that tradition by using grapes from a specific (single) quinta.  This approach delivers what wine lovers call "terroir" or site personality on top of distinctive qualities of the climate and harvest conditions of the vintage year alone.  Prices, and to a certain extent quality also, approach those of Vintage Ports. p2,500 to p4,500 for a young bottle is not unreasonable.

 

Tawny Port is akin to Non-Vintage Champagne.  There is no year on the label and it is completely ready to drink upon release.  Tawny Port comprises of wine from more than one year.  It undergoes extensive ageing in barrels and then filtered (to get rid of sediments) before bottling.  Oxidation causes the once-dark color of Port to lighten and acquire a tawny hue (hence the name).   Entry-level Tawny Port can be purchased at around p600 a bottle.  When you see words like Ten-Year-Old or Twenty-Year-Old on the label of a Tawny Port, you are looking at pretty fancy stuff; so expect to pay a fancy but fair price of p1,200 to 3,600.   The least expensive port is called Ruby Port.  Despite starting at just p300/bottle, it is not good value for money; hardly even worthy of being called Port in most cases.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY7LoU2Vi6c

Now back to Vintage Port again, particularly the subject of honor.

 

Declaring A Vintage – an honor system

 

Vintage Port is produced only about 3-4 times in a decade.  No, it is not because of Government regulations or event acts of God.  It is an honor system, self regulated and one that has governed more effectively, and most say more fairly, than any set of laws known to the wine trade.  The system is called declaration and it is quite simple; perhaps that's why it works.  Producers have a year after the harvest to ponder over a decision to declare a vintage or to abstain, a decision that hinges on their confidence about the quality of the wine of that year.

 

Although reputation (and pride of course) factors heavily into the making of world-class wines like Petrus, La Tache and Sassicaia, money is nevertheless very much a part of the equation.   That's not so in the case of Vintage Port.  The quantity of Vintage Port is so small that it makes up an insignificant percentage of the producer's annual revenue.  Declassifying a whole vintage of Petrus is almost unthinkable but all Port-houses do so routinely 6-7 times a decade.  Money is not at stake here, but reputation is; perhaps ego too.  There is no bad vintage port.  Unfortunately, this also means that there isn't any cheap Vintage Port either.  Expect to pay at least p4,000 for a young bottle that demands 5-10 years of waiting in the cellars, p12,000 for 20-year-old and the moon for rare old bottles.

 

The longevity of Port wine is legendary second perhaps only to Madeira.  In fact, Port ages much better than most dry wine.  Its high alcohol content protects its well against excessive oxidation which turns wine eventually into vinegar.  Excellent 50-year bottles of Port - still fresh and vibrant - are living testament to Port's longevity.  Some of the best vintages are 1945, 1955, 1963, 1977, 1994 and 1997.  1985 is probably the only noteworthy vintage in the disappointing decade of the 80s that is drinking nicely now.

 

So how does one enjoy a good bottle of Port?  With a great deal of respect.  Other than the fact that it is sweet, everything else is the same as wine.  A Vintage Port is expected to achieve excellent balance between its natural sweetness, fresh acidity and a firm structure of tannins.  It has to have plenty of flesh to cover the bones, a good long and steady finish (aftertaste) to extend the experience beyond the swallow.  With age, we can expect a new kind of charm, distinction if you will, emergence of elegance, complexity and depth of flavors from its maturity to a point where one would not even attempt to describe it in words anymore.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LKzybwRqgY

If I were given one dying wish for a bottle of Port, hands down without a doubt, it would be the legendary 1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port specially qualified as "Touriga Nacional"; literally to die for.  Other great bottles include 63 and 77 Dow, 55 Graham and the 45 Taylor.  Bottles to lay down for your sons and daughters include 94, 97 and 2000 vintage port.  For current drinking at a reasonably affordable price, I opt for a Barros 95 and Feist 87 and 85.  These are not stellar vintages but they are good value for money.

 

The classic pairing for Vintage Port is the king of blue cheeses - English Blue Stilton - served over water biscuits accompanied by lightly salted roasted almonds.  For younger and more tannic ports a piece of dark chocolate (65+% cocoa) matches well 

with the chocolate flavors indigenous to the Port.  Matured Port goes very well with braised meat in rich reduction sauces.

 

If you have a cellar at home I would argue that the best candidate for space in that precious piece of real estate is Vintage Port.  Value appreciation in Vintage Port out-performs dry wine mainly because prices on release of dry wine tend to be too high.  Upside in investment in dry wine is not lucrative and fatality rates of dry wine rise exponentially beyond 30 or 40 years of age.  The risks of Vintage Port going bad inside the bottle are much lower.  Port's high alcohol strength protects it well against oxidation. 

 

If you need any more reasons to make that shift in your wine investment strategies to Port, here is a possible deal closer.  When the head longs for a shoulder to rest on, arms hungry for a warm body to wrap around or teeth overly anxious to sink into something unthinkable, this tawny-hued clone of a wine if you will, always hits the spot. 

 

 

About the Author

Leading Philippines Wine Supplier Yats Wine Cellars based in Clark Philippines with outlets in Angeles City, Subic Freeport and Manila Philippines has been not only a wine shop for fine wines covering all major wine regions but also a source of reliable and useful information about wine, wine appreciation, wine accessories, wine and health, food and wine pairing and all other matters relating to wine and its appreciation.  This Philippines Clark Freeport based Wine Supplier and Wine Shop frequently holds public wine tasting events in Pampana Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles City, Subic Bay area, Makati, Fort Bonifacio and other areas in Philippines capital city Manila.  Private Wine events such as private wine tasting and private wine dinners are also designed and organized for private clientele for their wine loving guests.

 

Yats Wine Cellars can be reached at their Clark Wine Center Philippines wine shop located on the main highway M A Roxas of Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone or their sales office in Ortigas Centre, Metro Manila.  Here is the contact information:

 

Clark Wine Center

Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building

Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,  Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023

(632) 6375019  0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

 

http://www.YatsWineCellars.com

 

YATS Wine Cellars

Manila Sales Office      

3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,

Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605

(632) 637-5019   0917-520-4393  ask for Rea or Chay

 

Or email Wine@Yats-International.com

 

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