Ports

[Julie]

There was a few of you who asked what happened to the Port Forum, unfortunately there wasn't enough activity to justify a forum dedicated to just Port. So I am making this a sticky so anyone who would like to post about ports can do so here and it will always be at the top of the General Wine Making Forum for easy access.

 

[marino]

There was a lot of excellent info buried in the port boards. Are those posts still around? Where's the barrels forum?

 

[Johnd]

Where's the barrels forum?

It's still there, called "Barrels and Oaking"

 

[ColemanM]

Not sure if anyone remembers my Old vine Zin port I made back a few years ago, but here's an update....
Nose: fig, raisins slight blackberry.
Taste: raisins, brown sugar, supple tannins light Hungarian oak. Baking spices. After breathing for 24 hours, there is really no heat from the abv. I added a bottle of my petite sirah, a bottle of my Malbec and a bottle of my cab merlot to top the barrel before bottling. The ps really added to the color. I would gladly pay $30 for this tawny style port. It was aged in my Vadai barrel for 18 months. Classy port. 90 points.

 

[Boatboy24]

I still miss the port forum.

That OVZ Port looks very good.

 

[Tnuscan]

Guess what I've started craving.

 

[ColemanM]

I'm thinking I've got to skirt the no alcohol shipping rules.

 

[geek]

That looks pretty ColemanM

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Looking forward to bottling some port in the next couple of weeks !

 

[FTC Wines]

We just bottled a Tempranillo Port which is very promising. Our first Port, figured we would start with a Spansh wine. Got it to 18.5% abv, with chapilization & Brandy. Hope to put some away for years. Roy

 

[dcbrown73]

I'm looking to make half my 6 gallon batch of cherry wine into a cherry chocolate port.

 

[FTC Wines]

David, I took 2 bottles of our Choclate Cherry Port ( Kit) and blended it with 4 bottles of the Temparnillo Port and it made an awesome Port. The desert Port is great sipping, the 1 to 2 bottle ratio Port is Great drinking. Roy

 

[dralarms]

I'm getting ready to bottle my second go around of mixed berry port.

 

[ColemanM]

I have a new batch of OVZ port in the barrel now, and a bucket of frozen Tempranillo must on the way. Gonna try a blend this time. Not let it get tawny on me.

 

[marino]

Coleman, how's the Tempranillo port? I made 6 gallons last year and I think it might need some acid. Feels allotted flat. Haven't tested yet, but I'm not sure how that will work because it already is fortified

 

[Deezil]

Banana Bochet Port

It's a complex process, but it's worth it.
If you like Port, if you like Honey.... Give it a try.

Not much banana in the end, but what is there, will blow your mind.

 

[Elizajean]

We just bottled a Tempranillo Port which is very promising. Our first Port, figured we would start with a Spansh wine. Got it to 18.5% abv, with chapilization & Brandy. Hope to put some away for years. Roy

So, I have a Tempranillo close to bottling. I am wondering if I could take a gallon, or so, and turn it into port at this stage. I like dry or slightly off dry ports. Thoughts, suggestions? Thanks!

 

[JohnT]

You could by adding a fortifier to the desired ABV (use the pearson's square to figure this out) and then adding sugar to come to the right %

 

[Stressbaby]

I'm just starting a 6 gallon batch of elderberry at 5#/gallon. I have PLENTY of elderberry wine already and was thinking of splitting off a gallon for port. So I have some questions.
1. Will 5#/gallon give enough fruit flavor for port?
2. I see a couple of ways of managing the sugar - most seem to add sugar step-wise, ferment to dry using a yeast with high alcohol tolerance, then fortify and back-sweeten. But Allison Crowe has an article where she fortifies at 12° Brix. This method doesn't make much sense to me. It seems logical to maximize the alcohol produced by the yeast, rather than just adding it in with the fortifier. True?
3. My elderberry wine will have TA 6-6.5 g/L, pH 3.45-3.55 range. The same article by Crow recommends additional acid - pH in the 3.2 range. Is there a target TA for ports?
4. I have a couple of pounds of blackberries left in the freezer. I could add those to the 1 gallon once I pull that off. Or alternatively, I could infuse the fortifier. Or finally, I could do a secondary infusion into the wine itself. Recommendations?

 

[sour_grapes]

2. I see a couple of ways of managing the sugar - most seem to add sugar step-wise, ferment to dry using a yeast with high alcohol tolerance, then fortify and back-sweeten. But Allison Crowe has an article where she fortifies at 12° Brix. This method doesn't make much sense to me. It seems logical to maximize the alcohol produced by the yeast, rather than just adding it in with the fortifier. True?

I think the reason some people do it this way is that they feel that grape sugars are "better" than table sugar in some regard, so they want the sweetness to be from the original grape sugars. And, of course, this is how port was originally done.