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All about port wine > Désignations
In 1880 Henry Vizetelly, the great nineteenth century authority and writer on wine, wrote, ‘… it has been said that there are as many styles of Port wine as shades of ribbon in a haberdasher’s shop.’
Exaggeration... maybe... However, the diversity of different styles offers Ports for all occasions and budgets, from rare Vintage Ports for the fine wine collector to delicious and affordable wood aged styles for relaxed entertaining.
The different styles of Port derive essentially from the various ways in which it can be aged. Its remarkable ageing potential and the fact that it is fortified mean that Port will continue to improve in cask, vat or bottle for much longer than most other wines. The choice of ageing period and ageing vessel will determine what the Port tastes like.
As Port matures, the firm tannins and intense fruity flavours of youth gradually give way to the velvety smoothness and mellow, nuanced character which develop with age. At the same time there is a change in the wine’s appearance, its initial deep red colour slowly becoming paler and evolving into the subtle amber hue known as ‘tawny’. If left for long enough, all Ports will eventually make this change. However, the speed at which this occurs will depend on what the Port is aged in.
A Port wine which is aged in wood is in contact with the air and will evolve more rapidly than one which ages in bottle and has almost no air contact. In a small cask, where air contact is greatest, the wine will age faster than in a large vat where it is more limited.
Ports can be broken down into two broad ‘families’: Wood aged Ports (sometimes known simply as ‘wood Ports’) which age in cask or vat, normally made of oak, and bottle aged Ports which, as the name indicates, spend most of their lives maturing in bottle.
White Ports differ from each other’s in sweetness and ageing period. The youngest Ports are normally drunk in the beginning of meals. The oldest ones have longest ageing periods and intense flavors and should be drunk at dessert. According to sweetness level white Port has four categories: Extra Seco, Seco, Doce and Lágrima.
Did you know that Taylor’s Chip Dry was the first dry white Port first launched in 1934?
Port wine obtained from blends of, usually, 3 year-old wines aged in wine seasoned casks. This way, they don’t present the characteritsics of oak ageing. During the ageing process several rackings are performed in order to force oxidation and endow the wine with a golden colour.
Age designation
Good quality Port wine with permission to use age designation. Age designations are: 10 year old, 20 year old, 30 year old and over 40 year old. This Port is a tawny obtained from a blend of wines from several harvests in order to join different organoleptic characteristics (colour, aroma and flavour). The ageing period in wood is variable and the age on the wine’s label corresponds to the average age of the different wines used in the blend (mixture of two or more grape varieties).
Ruby Reserva
This category is applicable to Tawny and Ruby wines. Ruby Reserva are more aromatic, fruity and have a more complex structure than Ruby. The blends used in the production of Ruby Reserva undergo a more careful selection than the ones used in the Ruby category.
Tawny Reserva
This category is applicable to Tawny and Ruby wines. Tawny Reserva wines have higher qualities than Tawny and their tones vary according to the winemaking processes: they can be red, similar to rubies, or brownish, resembling the colour of oldest tawnies. Tawny Reserva is obtained from the blend of 5 to 7 year-old wines.
Reserva White
It is a higher quality white Port and is obtained from the blend with an ageing period in wood of, at least, seven years. Has golden colour and persistent flavor.
Good quality tawny Port from one single harvest. Before being bottled, the wine goes through an ageing period in wood of, at least, seven years. Although Tawny is not a blend wine, it undergoes rackings and fillings during its ageing process. While the wine ages, its fresh, fruity aromas oxidise and are transformed into a bouquet (group of aromas), from which the aromas of dry fruit, wood and spices stand out.
Vintage Port represents the very best produce of a single outstanding year. It remains in vat for only about two years and then ages in bottle. Although Vintage Ports can be enjoyed when young, they will improve for many decades in the cellar and are among the most long-lasting of all wines. Taylor’s Vintage Ports in particular are noted for their longevity. Vintage Ports are the most structured and powerful of all Ports.
Good quality Port wine with good ageing potential. It has a harvest date and is usually obtained from a blend of wines from that harvest. Its ageing takes place in large vats, oak tuns or stainless steel tanks in order for the oxidative evolution to be extremely slow. LBV is bottled between the 31st July of the fourth year and the 31st December of the sixth year after harvest.
In the Late Bottled Vintage category one also finds the “Envelhecido em garrafa” or Bottle Matured Port. This is a high quality Port that ages in bottle for, at least, three years and can thus create a deposit.
Wine whose colour resembles that of the precious stone called ruby. This happens because the ageing process has little or no oxidation (usually up to three years in wooden barrels). It is a young, full bodied wine rich in fruity aromas.
High quality Port wine. It is obtained from a blend of wines from different harvests and bottled after 3 to 4 years of ageing in wood. The wine’s peculiar characteristics create a deposit (crust) in the walls of the bottle.
Rose is the most recent innovation in the Port Wine world. It’s a fresh, smooth and versatile Porto wine. The pink color is obtained by maceration of very intense red grapes and the process excludes oxidation during its storage.
Thanks to Taylor Port for their kind assistance for introduction.
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