Anyone have a good basic recipe for making Port?
- Thread starter AFW
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Ports are pleasantly sweet and loaded with flavor. The last one I made was one of my best - for a 1 gallon batch I used 10 lbs wild grapes, 5 lbs blackberries, and 1.5 lbs elderberries. Personally I wouldn't make a port without elderberries, they add SO much. I step fed and finished at 18.2%. Alcohol wasn't noticeable at all! There's a reason port glasses are smaller than wine glasses - one glass and standing becomes a challenge.
Ports are pleasantly sweet and loaded with flavor. The last one I made was one of my best - for a 1 gallon batch I used 10 lbs wild grapes, 5 lbs blackberries, and 1.5 lbs elderberries. Personally I wouldn't make a port without elderberries, they add SO much. I step fed and finished at 18.2%. Alcohol wasn't noticeable at all! There's a reason port glasses are smaller than wine glasses - one glass and standing becomes a challenge.
David Violante
Senior Member
I made a very nice Frontenac port style wine last year. I fermented the grapes then used a Pearson square to figure out additions of sugar and grain alcohol to make the percentages of the port style. Step feeding is better for flavor reasons I think, and I just couldn't figure out beginning sugar levels to hit a percentage of alcohol and residual sweetness. Fermenting dry and then making additions worked better for me. Frontenac really has a nice flavor to it.
Metaxa IMHO has a much better flavour than grain alcohol which has none. The next time you make Frontenac Port try using Metaxa. Metaxa is Greek brandy made from Sultana Raisins. It is IMHO more than once a killer in Ports or Sherries. I've never had a bad fortified wine where I used Metaxa.
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