Wine - Portugal - Port: The Douro Valley - Styles

Front 1

What are the two basic styles of port from which all variants stem? What distinguishes them?

Back 1

Ruby and tawny. What distinguishes these two styles is bottle-aging for rubies and cask-aging for tawnies.

Front 2

What is white port? What does Lagrima mean?

Back 2

White port:

Most dry white ports taste like flabby sherry, but there are some interesting sweet ones, such as Ferreira's Superior White, which is creamy-soft and delicious. Truly sweet white port is often labeled Lagrima. Niepoort pure Moscatel can make a nice alternative to Moscatel de Setúbal.

Drink upon purchase

Ferreira's Superior White

Front 3

What is basic ruby port?

Back 3

Basic ruby port:

The cheapest red ports are rubies with less than a year in cask and often no time at all. Sold soon after bottling, they do not improve if kept. Inexpensive rubies have a basic, pepper-grapey flavor that can be quite fiery. Superior-quality wines are blended from various vintages with up to four years in cask, giving a more homogenous taste, though they should still have the fruity spice and warmth of a young ruby.

Drink upon purchase

Cockburn's (Special Reserve) * Fonseca (Bin 27) * Graham's (Six Grapes) * Quinta de la Rosa (Finest Reserve) * Warre's (Warrior)

Front 4

What is crusted port, or crusting port?

Back 4

The greatest nonvintage ruby port, this is a blend of very high-quality wines from two or more years, given up to four years in cask and, ideally, at least three years in bottle, hence the name. Ready to drink when purchased, providing it is carefully decanted, crusting port benefits from acclimatizing to new storage conditions, when it will shed further sedimentation before resuming the much slower process of maturation.

1-10 years

Churchill's * Martinez * Smith Woodhouse

Front 5

What is late-bottled vintage (LBV) port?

Back 5

Late-bottled vintage (LBV) port:

A late-bottled vintage is a pure vintage port from a good, but not necessarily great year. LBVs are usually made in lighter, generally undeclared years. Lighter, more precocious vintages are usually chosen for this less expensive category, and the wines are given between four and six years in cask to bring them on even more quickly. LBVs are thus ready for drinking when sold, but continue to improve in bottle for another five or six years.

5-10 years

Burmester * Churchill's * Graham's * Quinta de la Rosa * Ramos-Pinto * Smith Woodhouse * Warre's

Front 6

What is single-quinta port?

Back 6

Single-quinta port:

A wine from a single vineyard, this may be a classic vintage port from an established house or a special release from an undeclared vintage. Most single-quinta ports are as accessible as LBV because, after bottling, the wines are stored until more or less ready to drink. Many single-quinta and LBV ports are the same age, although the former is aged longer after bottling, while the latter is aged longer before. With interest in these ports increasing, the change in the law allowing port to be matured at the quintas, and the fact that individual domaine wines are seen as more prestigious, this category could one day become more esteemed than vintage port itself.

8-25 years

Cálem (Quinta de Foz) * Champalimaud (Quinta do Cotto) * Churchill's (Quinta de Agua Alta) * Ferreira (Quinta do Seixo) * Fonseca (Quinta do Panascal) * Niepoort (Quinta do Passadouro) * Quinta de la Rosa * Quinta de Vesuvio * Quinta do Noval * Quinta do Sagrado * Ramos-Pinto (Quinta da Urtiga) * Taylor's (Quinta de Vargellas) * Warre's (Quinta da Cavadinha)

Front 7

What is vintage character port?

Back 7

Vintage character port:

The suggestion that these wines, blended from various years and matured in cask for up to four years, have a "vintage" character is misleading. They may be fine ports, but the character is that of a genuine fine old ruby, not a vintage port.

Drink upon purchase

Cálem * Churchill's * Ferreira * Royal Oporto (The Navigator's) * Sandeman's (Signature)

Front 8

What is vintage port?

Back 8

Vintage port:

By law, a vintage port must be bottled within two years. Maturation in bottle is more reductive than cask-aging and the wine that results has a certain fruitiness that will not be found in any fine old tawny. When mature, a fine vintage port is a unique taste experience with a heady bouquet and a sultry flavor. A warming feeling seems to follow the wine down the throat - more an "afterglow" than an aftertaste. The grape and spirit are totally integrated and the palate is nearly bursting with warm, spicy-fruit flavors.

12-30 years (but see individual producers)

Churchill's * Champalimaud (Quinta do Cotto) * Ferreira * Fonseca * Fonseca Guimaraens * Gould Campbell * Niepoort * Quinta do Noval (especially Nacional) * Taylor's

Front 9

What is aged tawny port?

Back 9

Aged tawny port:

These 10-, 20-, 30-year-old and over-40-year-old ports are traditionally known as "fine old tawnies," but like fine old rubies, there are no legal requirements. By constant racking over a period of 10, 20, or more years, port fades to a tawny color, falls bright, and will throw no further deposit. It assumes a smooth, silky texture, a voluptuous, mellow, nutty flavor, and complex after-aromas that can include freshly ground coffee, caramel, chocolate, raisins, nutmeg, and cinnamon. The years are merely an indication of age; in theory, a 20-year-old tawny could be just a year old, if it could fool the Port Wine Institute. In practice, most blends probably have an age close to that indicated. Most tawny port experts find 20-year-old the ideal tawny, but 30- and over-40-years-old tawnies are not necessarily past it. The only relatively negative aspect of a good 30- or over-40-years-old is that it will be more like a liqueur than a port.

Drink upon purchase

10-Year-Old:
Cálem * Churchill's * Cockburn's * Croft * Dow's * Ferreira (Quinta do Porto) * Fonseca * Graham's * Niepoort * Offley (Baron Forrester) * Ramos-Pinto * Robertson's (Pyramid) * Smith Woodhouse * Taylor's * Warre's (Sir William)

20-Year-Old:
Barros Almeida * Burmester * Cálem * Cockburn's * Croft (Director's Reserve) * Dow's * Ferreira (Duque de Bragança) * Fonseca * Graham's * Niepoort * Noval * Offley (Baron Forrester) * Robertson's (Private Reserve) * Sandeman (Imperial) * Taylor's

30-Year-Old:
Cálem * Croft * Dow's * Fonseca * Niepoort * Ramos-Pinto

Over 40 Years Old:
Cálem * Fonseca * Graham's * Noval * Taylor's

Front 10

What is basic tawny port?

Back 10

Basic tawny port:

These are often a blend of red and white ports. Some skillful blends can be very good and have even the most experienced port-tasters guessing whether they are tawny by definition or by blending. On the whole, it is wise to pay more to ensure that you buy an authentically aged product. The best tawnies are usually eight years old, although this is seldom indicated.

Drink upon purchase

Delaforce (His Eminence's Choice) * Dow's (Boardroom) * Warre's (Nimrod)

Front 11

What is single-quinta tawny port?

Back 11

Single-quinta tawny port:

Although most single-vineyard ports are vintage and ruby in style, some are made as tawny, either with an indicated age or vintage-dated.

Drink upon purchase

10-Year-Old:
Quinta do Sagrado * Ramos-Pinto (Quinta da Ervamoira)

20-Year-Old:
Ramos-Pinto (Quinta do Bom-Retiro)

Vintage-Dated:
Borges' Quinta do Junco

Front 12

What is vintage-dated tawny, or colheita port?

Back 12

Vintage-dated tawny, or colheita port:

These excellent-value, often sublime, cask-aged wines are from a single vintage, and may have 20 or 50 years in cask. They must not be confused with the plumper, fruitier vintage ports. There should be an indication of when the wine was bottled or a term such as "Matured in Wood." Some vintage ports are simply labeled "vintage" and tawnies "Colheita." Other clues are "Reserve," "Reserva," or "Bottled in" dates.

Drink upon purchase

Barros Almeida * Burmester * Cálem * Offley (Baron Forrester) * Niepoort * Noval