 Ruby
Ruby is a young Port wine with a Ruby like colour.
So that these wines wont lose their initial characteristics
they are kept in big vats where there is, little or no
oxidation. After being more a less three years in these
vats they are bottled and sold. This type of wine does
not improve over time therefore it should be drunk soon
after it is bought.
Young Tawny
Young Tawny Wines are aged in cask. It is a young wine
with approximately three years, the least considered
of Port Wine categories, but has been improving greatly
with the adoption of new production technologies and
facilities. A wine that does not improve when kept in
bottle and after opened they can be kept for about two
to three months. Inside this category we may also find
the Tawny Reserve; a wine which is not considered and
young Tawny neither a 10 year old tawny. Depending on
the producer the characteristics vary a great deal between
them. Aged in cask for about five to seven years they
should still show some fruit aromas and starting to develop
dry fruit aromas. It also does not improve in bottle
and should consumed when opened. When kept closed these
wines do not need to be laid down to keep the cork humid
to prevent oxidation. This is because they have already
been oxidized when aged in casks and can be kept standing
up.
White
White is a type of Port that ranges from very dry to
very sweet, in which the sweetest is known as "Lágrima",
the alcohol level is similar from the red Ports except
for the "Leve Seco" that has lower degree of
alcohol, 16.5º. They are not regular Ports, these
wines can be consumed as a normal wine or can be served
cold, with lemon or tonic. They are ideal to drink as
an appetizer.
Vintage
Vintage: only after the approval by the IVP can a wine
be considered a Vintage. This wine is considered by experts
to be the finest, and therefore the most expensive of
all Port wines. A Vintage comes from a single and exceptional
quality of the harvest. This is a wine that spends 2
to 3 years in a cask ageing before it is bottled. It
is also a wine that needs a considerable amount of time
to mature, 15 to 40 years is the time period in which
vintages mature.
In the beginning of their ageing in the bottle they have
an intense colour, with plenty of tannins and with an
uncommon structure of complex fruit and floral aromas.
Vintage Port should be kept laid down for storing in
order for the cork to be kept humid. After opened it
should drunk the same day or else it will lose most of
its best qualities.
Over the years a deposit is formed from the sediments
of the wine. Before opening a Vintage Port the bottle
should be handled very carefully in order to avoid the
sediments to break lose. You will have to wait around
24 hours before the sediments settle once again on the
bottom. After that the wine is ready to be decanted and
drank. . The best vintages from this century are: 1997,
1994, 1992, `91, `85, `77, `70, `63, `55, `48, `45, `35,
`31, `27 and 1912.
LBV
LBV (LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE) This type of Port comes
from a single good harvest a wine with tanins and intensely
coloured. It's bottled after spending a period of 4 to
7 years in big vats where there are little chances of
oxidation. These wines are more complex than the Rubies
but softer than the vintages.
An LBV is a very good investment in terms of Price/Quality
since the grapes of Vintage wines are also used to produce
this category. The LBV can be divided into two different
types: the that is not filtered, known as the "Tradicional",
vigorous and consistent, needs to be decanted (not all
labels in the bottle show that its a "Traditional).
The other type of LBV is filtered and stabilized, therefore
decanting is no longer needed. The filtered LBv is softer
and easier to drink.
Colheita (Dated Ports)
Dated Ports: They are tawny wines, soft, deep and complex
wines made with grapes from only one harvest, aged in
casks minimum seven years before they can be bottled.
Like all tawnies, they are supposed to be consumed at
the end of the meal but slightly chilled and since it
is filtered before bottled it does not need decanting.
According to many wine specialists while kept in bottle,
these wines develop characteristics that are hard to
define but have to do with the long term contact with
the glass of the bottle.
Crusted
Crusted its a category that is not produced by many
producers. It is a wine that is consisted of various
harvests (two or three) , before it is sold its kept
for two years in casks and three years in bottle. The
batch consisting these wines are not filtered therefore
it is normal to have the presence of sediments at the
bottom.
Old Tawnies
Old Tawnies 10, 20, 30 and 40 years old: Old Tawnies
10, 20, 30 and 40 years old: They are kept and aged in
casks for many years until they lose their red colour
because of oxidation and gaining a brownish light yellow
colour. Tawnies with ten years should keep the fruit
aromas while the twenty years tawny may gain a touch
of dry fruits. Wines with thirty it is more noticeable
the presence of spices and dry fruits, characteristics
that show up more in forty year old tawnies.
The batch must at least in average 10 years old. Meaning
that the batch may be consisted of wines younger than
10 years old or older. Since the enologist has the possibility
to use wines from various years the end result from producer
to producer may vary a lot, but the style of each particular
brand should be followed.
The 20,30 and 40 year old Tawnies are much less common
expensive than the 10 year old. The enologist has to
be experienced enough and aware of the the Port Style
of the Producer in order to chose the best combinations
of each selected wines. After this selection the wines
are aged in casks under the special influence of the
dark cold lodges situated along the Douro in Gaia.
The bottles should be kept vertical, because they have
been already oxidized when they were aged and therefore
the cork does not be to be kept humid to prevent the
contact with air. These wine do not need decanting has
they have been filtered before bottled thus not leaving
any sediments at the bottom.
Article © 2002-2006, Oporto,
Portugal. All rights reserved.
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