Before diving into a Port tasting, let’s talk a little bit about what Port is.
Port is a fortified wine made in the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal. It is fortified by adding a grape derived spirit, such as brandy, during fermentation. The spirit is added during fermentation when there is only about 5-9% ABV (alcohol by volume) and when there is still a high proportion of natural sugar remaining from the grapes. The high ABV in the spirit kills the yeast in the wine, stopping fermentation and leaving a sweet, fortified wine that is between 19% and 22% ABV.
Fermentation of Port only lasts about 24-36 hours, therefore extraction techniques need to be aggressive in order to obtain the necessary colour and tannins. Traditionally foot treading would have been used. This involves teams of workers stomping the grapes for three to four hours in shallow granite troughs. Autovinifiers, piston plungers and robotic laggers can also be used in order to achieve the same end.
Port wine can be red, white or rosé. It can be made from over one hundred different grape varietals but five of the most common include Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional and Tinot Cão. The maturation of the fortified wine determines what style of Port it will be.
Ruby Port
Ruby Port is non-vintage, meaning it is a blend of several vintages in one wine; it is inexpensive, sweet and fruity. Ruby Port is aged in oak (and sometimes stainless steel) for relatively short periods of time, usually less than three years. These wines are bottled ready to drink.
Reserve Ruby Port – better quality wines blended to make a more complex Port. Reserve Ruby Ports spend a maximum of five years in oak, which helps to integrate the alcohol.
Late Bottle Vintage (LBV) Port – uses better quality wines, like the Reserve Ruby Port, but only from a single vintage. These wines are aged four to six years before bottling. LBV Ports are sweet with high alcohol, medium tannins and medium acidity.
Ruby Ports do not typically benefit from bottle aging, however some LBV Ports that are unfiltered can benefit from some cellaring.
Vintage Ports
Vintage Ports come from the best vineyards and are only made in the best years. Producers need to register their intent to release a Vintage Port during the second year after a harvest and the wine must be bottled no later than three years after harvest.
Vintage Ports are bottled unfined and unfiltered after a short period of time in large oak vessels. These wines have high tannins and high acidity and therefore benefit from long, careful cellaring in the bottle. As Vintage Ports age, the sediment in the wine increases, making decanting necessary.
Tawny Port
Tawny Ports are best consumed upon release. They undergo long, oxidative aging in barrels called pipes. This aging results in a fortified wine that is garnet-to-tawny in colour, with toffee, nut and caramel aromas and flavours. The best Tawny Ports have an age marked on the bottle, which indicates the average age of the wine inside.
Taylor Fladgate 30 Year Old Tawny Port $155
When pairing sweet food with wine, you generally want your wine to be sweeter than your dish, which makes Port an ideal dessert pairing. I paired the Taylor Fladgate 30 Year Old Tawny Port with a chocolate tart and strawberries, which made for an excellent pairing.
Taylor Fladgate has been in business since 1692. They are still an independent company and family members continue to play a role in its day-to-day operations. Taylor Fladgate is one of the few remaining Port houses to produce a 30 Year Old Tawny Port.
About every two-to-three years a reserve Port proves to have enough power, structure and fruit for aging. These casks mature in the Taylor Fladgate cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. Here the cool, damp, coastal climate produces slow and gentle aging. Those casks that reach their peak after thirty years, are blended to create this special Tawny Port.
This 30 Year Old Tawny Port has a fairly pronounced nose with captivating aromas of raisin, caramel, tobacco leaf, baking spice, walnut, dried red chili, apricot jam and sour cherry pie filling. The tannins are low but the acidity is high and the palate is juicy and bursting with flavour. The palate offers citrus, dried apricot, sweet baking spice, raisins, caramel, espresso, walnut and sour cherry pie filling with a lingering finish.
References
King, Nicholas, et al. Understanding Wines: Explaining Style and Quality. Wayment Print & Publishing Solutions Ltd, 2016.
Wines and Spirits: Looking Behind the Label. Wayment Print & Publishing Solutions Ltd, 2014.