Old Vine Zinfandel Port

[ColemanM]

Busabill, also, I just read another post of yours stating you're looking to take 6 gallons of your Zin. I'd do the math of fortification first because I believe you would turn that 6 gallons into about 7 1/2. Maybe do 5 if it works out to be like 6.2 just my 2¢

 

[Busabill]

Busabill, also, I just read another post of yours stating you're looking to take 6 gallons of your Zin. I'd do the math of fortification first because I believe you would turn that 6 gallons into about 7 1/2. Maybe do 5 if it works out to be like 6.2 just my 2¢

Hey Coleman, you must have misread, or I misspoke, anyway, no biggie. What I'm actually doing is wanting to end up with about 1 gallon of port. So I'm going to use about 1 gallon of the zinfandel (or a little less) and fortify it so I arrive at about 1 gallon of port. Of course I suppose I should make a little over a gallon for topping up, and I suppose it would make the math easy if I start with exactly 1 gallon of the zin. The fortification math is a little cloudy still but I will figure that out. Also, on the 77% brandy to use, thanks for the clarification, so basically just find the highest ABV brandy to avoid unnecessary dilution then?

 

[ibglowin]

Well if you want to end up with 1 gallon of port you would start out with LESS than one gallon of wine!

I have made port wine a couple of times and using a starting wine with about 15.5%ABV you need about 1 (750ml) bottle of 80 proof Brandy per GALLON of wine if you want to end up with ~19% ABV.

What I'm actually doing is wanting to end up with about 1 gallon of port. So I'm going to use about 1 gallon of the zinfandel (or a little less) and fortify it so I arrive at about 1 gallon of port.

 

[sour_grapes]

What works out well for me is to put a 750 ml bottle of wine into an empty 1 liter brandy bottle, then top it off with 250 ml of brandy. (This is assuming about 13% ABV wine and a target of 20% port using 40% ABV brandy.)

 

[wineforfun]

@ibglowin and @sour_grapes Interesting stuff there. Sounds like a quick and easy way to make a port wine out of a bottle of wine you have on hand that you like, without doing all the fermenting, etc.

 

[sour_grapes]

@ibglowin and @sour_grapes Interesting stuff there. Sounds like a quick and easy way to make a port wine out of a bottle of wine you have on hand that you like, without doing all the fermenting, etc.

I also add some sugar, since port has some residual sugar. I add about 3 Tablespoons for this 1-liter batch.

 

[Busabill]

So...after the fortification, when back sweetening is there a specific formula that is used or is it better to just do bench trials and figure out what tastes best? Or is it better to just use SG? What is the typical method?

 

[sour_grapes]

So...after the fortification, when back sweetening is there a specific formula that is used or is it better to just do bench trials and figure out what tastes best? Or is it better to just use SG? What is the typical method?

I use SG. On my first attempts I sweetened the wine (before fortification) to 1.030; after fortification, the SG was ~1.010. (Brandy is not at all dense!) This amount of sugar was too sweet, IMHO.

On later batches, I sweetened the wine to 1.017-1.020. I don't know what the SG was after fortification for this level of sweetening, but the taste was fine to my taste buds.

 

[Busabill]

Paul, cool. It seems a read that a lot of people fortify first and then sweeten. Here you are sweetening first. Do you think there is a benefit either way? What about aging it after fortifying and sweetening. Recommended?

 

[sour_grapes]

I don't think it matters which order you do it. I did it that way sort of randomly.

Aging? Yes, I expect it to help. Real port is typically aged a long time. The higher ABV helps stabilize it.

 

[Busabill]

Cool, and one final question, which I think the answer is yes, do you SO2 a port the same way you would when aging a traditional wine?

 

[marino]

Coleman, finally got a lug of OVZ happily fermenting. Having a hard time getting the yeast to make it past 15% abv. Gotta get it off the skins-starting to get stinky. Going to do
The same with Tempranillo when they come in. Any hints? How's your ovz batch?

 

[NorCal]

Cool, and one final question, which I think the answer is yes, do you SO2 a port the same way you would when aging a traditional wine?

You have 20% alcohol working for you, so you can dial it back. If it calls for 50, I would do 30-40 ppm. When I make port, I like it a little dark and dirty.

 

[ColemanM]

Hey Marino, why is it getting stinky? Did you fortify it yet? If the yeast is puttering out, that may be a good thing. You want/need a but of residual sweetness. I would first fortify it by adding some brandy/cognac to the correct abv. Then I would dust it with some kmeta. Then I would leave it on the skins (if it's not objectionable smelling). I pulled it off the skins pretty much right away, and it is definitely a tawny. If you want a "vintage" port, I would try to leave it on the skins longer. If it's too late for you OVZ then try it with your Temp. What were your numbers for the temp?

 

[marino]

Sorry I've been MIA Coleman-- the OVZ port got stinky because I think I left it on the lees too long. I fortified it and then splash racked it A TON. Need to go back down and check on it. The tempranillo smells good, but I don't know how to make it vintage. I used E&j VSOP (the more expensive one) has WAY too much vanilla. Not doing that again. I had.05L of the 70% brandy from my uncle who makes port. That brandy came inside the barrel my that he got for me to protect it. Too bad I couldn't bring enough to make a whole batch the traditional way