Port Styles
There is not one kind of Port wine, but several different kinds. All red ports
age for at least two years in oak casks. It is after this shared start in
life that their paths diverge to form the two great dynasties of Port: those
which will continue their maturation in casks (ruby, tawny, aged tawnies)
and those which will continue maturing in bottles (vintage and, to a lesser
extent, late bottled vintage - the two types made from a single year's grapes).
This distinction is of prime importance as it corresponds to two different notions of what Port is all about. Ports aged in oak mature by oxidation, hence their amber colour and typical roasted, nutty aromas. Ports aged in bottles mature by reduction, which gives them a dark red colour and a flavour in which the fruit of youth remains dominant.
White Port Wine
Made exclusively from white grapes, white Ports are generally fairly
sweet, as white grapes reach a more advanced state of ripeness than red grapes
in the Douro. They can however be used to make a drier wine depending on whether
the fermentation process is prolonged or cut short. With a typically delicate
and fruity nose, white Port is a wine to (re)discover.
Red Port Wine - aged in oak casks
Ruby. Named for its bright red colour, which evokes the precious stone
of the same name, this is a young Port which spends relatively little time
in the barrel.
It is a wine of constant quality which allies fruit with an agreeably youthful freshness. Of all the ports it is the most refreshing and the most bracing.
Tawny. Tawny is a more mature wine than ruby. As it ages it grows paler and more golden in colour and its fruit melts into the alcohol, increasing its smoothness and finesse.
Aged Tawny. Some tawnies are marked "Ten Years Old", "Twenty Years Old", "Thirty Years Old" or "Over Forty Years Old". They are made by blending wines from different harvests. The age shown (10, 20, 30 or over 40 years) refers to the foundation (60% to 80% of the wine), which has been enlivened by adding young wines or refined by blending with wines of a more venerable age.
Colheita. These are wines made with grapes solely from the year shown. They are aged in casks for a minimum of seven years until such time as they are bottled and this date of bottling must also be shown.
Once tawnies are bottled the ageing process is halted (because they age in the cask by oxidation). Colheita is therefore not a wine to keep for several years in the bottle. Indeed its quality deteriorates if it is left in the bottle for too long.
Red Port Wine - aged in the bottle
Late Bottled Vintage. This is Port made
with grapes from a single year, which is shown on the label. As its name suggests,
it is bottled at a relatively late stage, after spending between four and
six years in casks, as opposed to the two or three years that Vintage Port
remains in the barrel. Late Bottled Vintage is therefore mid-way between the
two types of Port: woodier and lighter in colour and taste than vintage; fruitier,
redder and spicier than tawny. It was developed by the English for practical
reasons: it can be drunk sooner than a vintage, yet retains the vintage character
so highly prized in Great Britain. It has other advantages too: it keeps for
longer once the bottle has been opened (because the wine is already used to
contact with the air) and is easier to serve since it needs virtually no decanting,
the sediment having been removed during its time in the cask.
It is to these qualities, which remain as relevant as ever, that it owes its notable success in English pubs and restaurants.
Vintage. Also made with grapes from a single outstanding harvest. It is aged for two to three years in wood and then continues to mature in the bottle. Much darker in colour than tawny Port, it is also fruitier with a greater complexity of flavours and aromas. To get the best of its concentrated flavour a vintage Port must be kept for 8 to 10 years, indeed 15 to 20 years in the greatest years. It can be also laid down for a good deal longer.
A wine of exceptional quality, vintage Port should be decanted two hours before it is served into a decanter with a flat bottom.
Once decanted, vintage Port, being less accustomed to contact with the air than tawny or LBV, goes off very quickly. Its fruit fades and the wine looses some of its aromatic complexity.
Tradition has it, that once opened a bottle of vintage Port should be gallantly finished off in the same evening!
How to Read a Port Label
In addition to the wine style, the label also carries information that indicates
the quality of the wine.
White Port: The words "extra-dry", "dry", "sweet" or "lagrima" (very sweet) indicate sugar content.
Ruby: Aged in oak casks.
Tawny: Aged in oak casks. In addition to standard
tawny, there are two other types of tawny: aged tawny (10, 20, 30 and over
40 years old) and single harvest tawny ("Colheita").
In the case of aged tawnies and Colheitas the date of bottling must be stated
along with the words "aged in cask" ("matured in wood",
"vieilli en fûts" or "envelhecido em casco").
LBV: Aged in oak casks for four to six years, then bottled. The date of bottling is shown along with the year of the harvest.
Vintage: Aged in oak casks for two to three years, then bottled. The date of bottling is shown along with the year of the harvest.
Single quinta Ports: By analogy with the single malt whiskies of Scotland, or the chateau wines of France, single quinta ports come from just one property. In principle they are therefore the most distinctive, as they reflect the characteristics of a single vineyard. It is worth remembering that they are made only in years that are not deemed good enough to declare a vintage.
Reserve, Fine, Special Selection, Founder: Ports of varying quality, as these denominations are not standardised but left to the producer to use at his own discretion. Usually, the categories are used for better-than-average Tawnies with an ageing period of 6-8 to years. However, it is also possible to find wines with shorter or longer ageing periods, still using these words on the label.
Other information to be found on a bottle of Port The seal on the neck of the bottle is the guarantee that the Port was bottled in Portugal and that all the operations involved in its production have been checked systematically. This seal is issued by the Port Wine Institute, a state-controlled body, which supervises Port production and the Port trade and so certifies that wines are authentic and have met a minimum quality standard.