Port

Here is a summary of the essentials of port viticulture and production - to help me with my WSET Diploma fortifieds revision, but hopefully also of general interest!

Location

Grapes for port are grown in the Douro region of Portugal. The best plots are in the Cima Corgo, from the slopes around the village of Pinhao (see photo below). Lower quality grapes (e.g. for young ruby port) are grown in the Baixo Corgo to the west and the Douro Superior to the east, which stretches all the way to the Spanish border.


Climate

The climate in the Douro is hot continental and very dry, becoming increasingly so further inland. The hills of the Serra do Marao shelter the Douro from the Atlantic influence. Climatological hazards include sudden bursts of heavy rain which can cause erosion and damage terraces and hail in the summer and autumn which can damage crops. Lack of water is a constant problem - weeds are removed from vineyards to remove competition for water.

Viticulture

The soil is schist, which due to the steep slopes is formed into terraces. Vines are Guyot-pruned, wire-trained.

The older, narrower walled terraces known as socalcos are often only two rows wide and are planted densely (c. 6,000 vines/ha). Maintenance of the walls is costly and time-consuming and the narrow gauge means tractor access is not possible, which is why in the 1970s the terracing system known as patamares was introduced. This involved bulldozing wider terraces into the hillsides and replacing stone walls with ramps bound by vegetation. Vertical planting has also been introduced (known as vinha ao alto) to enable mechanisation.



(left, socalcos; right, patamares)


Many vineyards contain long-forgotten mixtures of indigenous grape varieties. Modern regulations permit around 20 grape varieties, the most important of which are:

Touriga Nacional - "quality" - the highest quality Douro grape, low yields, high colour and tannin, very aromatic.

Touriga Franca - lighter, softer, rounder, very perfumed though and good heat- and drought-tolerance

Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain) - "medium" (colour, tannin, concentration) but adds finesse, good length and good in cooler years

Tinta Barroca - "high" (colour, tannin, acid, mustweight); early-ripening, cooler sites

Tinta Cao - v low yields, but good for ageing

Quintas are classified into Categories A-E (A is best) using a complex points system which rates them according to 12 physical factors including vines, location, aspect, gradient, soil and shelter.

Vinification

Macerated vigorously for only 2 or 3 days, for a rapid extraction of colour and tannin. Traditionally this was done by foot-treading in large granite lagares.

Premium ports use foot treading (or the mechanical equivalent - the "robotic lagar" developed by Symingtons). Cheaper ports use a mixture of roto-vinifiers, vigorous pumping-over, thermo-vinification and (in decreasing numbers) autovinifiers.

Once the wine reaches 6-8% abv (with c. 90-100g/l sugar), it is fortified to interrupt fermentation. One part aguardente (77% abv) mixed with 4 parts wine to give c. 20% abv.

Ageing

Port can be either cask aged or bottle aged. Young ruby port is aged in large concrete or stainless steel vats (20-100,000 litres). Oak is used for more expensive ports, although never new oak.

Wood-matured ports - aged in wooden casks (or sometimes cement tanks) and are ready to drink straight after fining, filtration and bottling. E.g. tawny port (which is aged in wood for so long that it loses its colour and turns tawny).

Bottle-aged ports - aged for a short period in wood and bottled without filtration. May take 20-30 years to be ready to drink. E.g. vintage port.

Styles of Port

Ruby - spend less than a year in cask

Reserve Ruby - aged for up to 5 years, more flavour

White - skin contact, most released while young (made from white-skinned grapes such as Malvasia Fina, Gouveio, Mourisco)

Tawny:

- Fine - basic, can be blend of ruby and white
- Aged - oxidatively for c. 8 years in cask
- with Indicated Age - 10, 20, 30 or "over 40" - refers to a style
- Colheita - vintage

LBV - single year, 4-6 years in cask then cold-stabilised, filtered and bottled. Ready to drink on release, does not improve.

Traditional LBV - single year, but not cold-stabilised and filtered so will form a deposit and improve, although can be drunk on release

Crusted - blend of years, not cold-stabilised and filtered, ready to drink but will improve (fairly recent invention of Symingtons and others to appeal to vintage port market, although this is a blend of years)

Single Quinta Vintage - released in years when a full vintage not declared, to satisfy consumer demand for dated ports (although some producers only ever release sqv's)

Vintage - bottled within 2 years of vintage, ageing takes place in bottle

Beneficio

The beneficio is the annual authorisation of the amount of port that may be produced. Decided in July/August.

Tasting - the Port "Holy Trinity"

(1) sweet; (2) fortified to a high level; (3) high acidity (i.e. high sugar, high alcohol, high acid)

See also my post on fortified wine comparisons.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Other Fortified Wines

Here is an outline of some less-common fortified wines:

1. Spain - Moscatel de Valencia: made from Muscat of Alexandria and mostly fortified before fermentation to c. 15% abv; simple fresh perfumes.


2. Greece - Muscat of Samos: Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, grown at altitude on hillside terraces, can be fortified before fermentation (Samos Doux), to interrupt fermentation (Samos VDN) or unfortified (Samos Nectar). It comes from the Greek island of Samos, in the Aegean and is allegedly "Greece's most famous wine" (after retsina).

3. Greece - Mavrodaphne of Patras: a Greek appelation in the Peloponnese which produces a fortified sweet red made from the Mavrodaphne grape, cask aged for a long time, giving a tawny colour.
4. Cyprus - Commandaria: Cypriot wine, made from sun-dried grapes, fortified after fermentation has stopped naturally. Fermentation achieves only a low level of alcohol - about 10% abv (NB PX is even less). Aged oxidatively for at least 2 years in oak at the coast. Static or solera systems can be used.
5. Cyprus - Fortified Cyprus Wine: sherry-style, fortified mid-ferment, cask-aged for a year then sweetened with concentrated grape must (although there are dry styles aged under flor in solera).

6. Australia - premium vintage and tawny styles are made from Rhone varieties (esp Shiraz); to a lesser extent, Madeira- and Sherry-styles; see separate post on Rutherglen

7. California - basic cream sherry-styles, but sweetened; some quality Muscats and Port styles

8. South Africa - Port-style wines using Rhone/Port varieties; Sherry styles; Moscatel

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Montilla-Moriles

Five need-to-know facts about Montilla-Moriles:

1. Montilla-Moriles is a D.O. (Denominacion de Origen) in Cordoba, Andalucia. It was created in 1945.

2. The predominant soil is albariza (white Andalucian soil, high limestone content, dries without caking, releases water slowly to vines over growing season); 70% of grapes are Pedro Ximenez (also some Airen and Muscat of Alexandria but NOT Palomino); and vines are low-yielding bush vines.

3. Vinification is similar to sherry. Fino styles are not fortified but get to 15% abv naturally. Oxidised styles (Oloroso styles) can be aged naturally or fortified. The terms Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso etc may be used within Spain but are restricted to Sherry in other EU countries, where they are re-labelled as Pale Dry, Medium Dry, Pale Cream and Cream.

4. A solera system is used, as for sherry.

5. The minimum age for Montillas is 2 years (rather than 3 for Sherry), but the majority are much older.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Flor

1. Flor is a benevolent film-forming yeast which, in a winemaking context, can form on the top of partially-filled barrels of maturing sherry, protecting the wine from oxidising. It is typified by those yeasts native to Jerez.

2. A by-product of the action of flor yeast is the chemical acetaldeyde, which gives fino-style sherries their distinctive "salty" aroma. The presence of acetaldehyde causes the "sherry-like" nose of some unfortified wines which are made using flor or flor-like yeasts.

3. Flor feeds on glycerine, polyphenols, higher alcohols and volatile acidity.

4. It only develops in wine which is between 14.5 and 16.0% abv (and not, as per legend, due to a magical, ineffable quality in the Andalucian air). It forms on all sherry pre-fortification, so even some Oloroso Seco styles may have some flor characteristics.

5. It is used in the production of Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado and Palo Cortado. In the case of Amontillado, the yeast either die away naturally after consuming all the glycerol, gradually exposing the wine to oxygen, or the wine is moved to a different solera mid-process. Palo Cortado makes use of the second technique only and so can be fuller-bodied than Amontillado.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Vins Doux Naturels

Here are 5 essential facts about VDNs.

1. Despite their name, VDNs are not naturally sweet. They are fortified mid-ferment (at about 15-18% abv) to arrest the fermentation process, as is port, a technique known as mutage.

2. VDNs are generally either Muscat- or Grenache-based.

3. The most common Muscat grapes are Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains (used for Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from the Rhone and Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois from Languedoc-Rousillon) and Muscat of Alexandria (used in Muscat de Rivesaltes, also from L-R).

4. Grenache (or sometimes Grenache Blanc) is used to make Rasteau from the Rhone and Banyuls and Rivesaltes from L-R.

5. Grenache-based VDNs can be aged oxidatively. The terms Rancio, Ambre and Tuile all indicate oxidatively-aged VDNs. Hors d'age indicates a wine that has been aged for at least 5 years.

A contrasting style is vin de liqueur or mistelles, made by adding grape spirit to grape must (the process known as mutage). Fortification occurs pre-ferment, meaning there are no secondary fermentation products and the final product tastes more sprirt dominated than VDNs. E.g. Pineau des Charentes.

Rivesaltes
(L-R, French Catalonia, near Perpignan)

Banyuls-sur-Mer
(L-R, French Catalonia, near Perpignan)

Beaumes de Venise
(Rhone, near Carpentras)

Vaison la Romaine
(Rhone, near Rasteau)

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

English Wine Producers Tasting 2009

This annual tasting at the end of April coincided with English Wine Week, a campaign started some five years ago to promote English wines and vineyards. The sporting location was different - Stamford Bridge instead of Lord's this year - but the wines were broadly as I remembered them from 2008. In general terms, the sparkling wines stood head and shoulders above the still ones, the whites were patchy and there were next to no stand-out reds.

The highlights of the tasting for me were:

Chapel Down Brut Vintage Reserve NV - mostly small bubbles, crisp nose of stainless steel minerality and gooseberries, crisp/acidic/fresh on palate with a nice level of fizz; slightly synthetic aftertaste

Camel Valley 'Cornwall' Brut 2006 - Chardonnay-ish nose and palate, light malolactic, light, non-aggressive bubbles; bit of residual sweetness on the finish

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2001 - mixture of large and small bubbles, very creamy nose, richness on palate - a foody wine


The future of English wine certainly seems to be sparkling. There are some pitfalls which need to be avoided, such as over-chaptalisation (Three Choirs?) and uneven bubbles which fade quickly (Bookers?) Trying to imitate Champagne should also be avoided (Nyetimber - especially their Classic Cuvee?)

The down-side of committing to a future of sparkling wine production is that it is much more capital-intensive than still winemaking. For this reason Stephen Spurrier says he is considering a joint venture with an established champagne house, Duval-Leroy (see article). Maybe this is the way forward for start-up English wineries. Convincing French champagne houses that they need an English producer on their books may well be a difficult task though...