WMT (Unofficial) 2014 Port Wine Contest

[Runningwolf]

John it's really not about winning or losing, It's about staying inside the box. The scoring was very close between judges except on Greg's, not sure what happened there. Judging the first time is difficult if you don't have an experienced person with you. Additionally keeping your personal preference out of it and focus on the complexities of the wine. The faults will usually jump out at you once your able to identify them. Nice job judges and everyone that entered. I encourage more members to get involved in the next contest.

 

[JohnT]

Thanks all..

At this point, I believe that it is customary to give details, so here goes..


This was my first attempt at port. I do not really drink a whole lot of port, but I have come to like it right after shoveling snow in the winter. I make it most every year in the fall, along with all the other wines I make that year. I make it in only small batches, usually limited to a single 5 gal carboy.

The idea of making port was suggested by a former friend of mine (don't ask) and was a bit of a collaborative effort. I was toying with the idea of making port for some time when my grape supplier (Corrado's) had a very rare and limited supply of Tinta Cao grapes. Being that the grapes were Portuguese in origin, I figured what better to use for port.

Having never made port before, I found this fantastic web site (guess which one) that was a wealth of information, especially the suggested use of the Pearson's square.

My base approach was to try to make as much use of the natural sugars of the grape. To me (and it might just be my imagination) natural "front" sugars taste better then back-sweetening.

I Kicked off fermentation in the usual way with Lalvin RC-212 (my yeast of choice for all of my reds) and waited until I had 8% residual sugar (down from 26%) remaining and added my fortifier to stop the fermentation prior to pressing (wine was still on the skins). Total fermentation time was 5 days

As a fortifier, I used (E&J Brandy). This was perhaps the cheapest brandy that I could find that was also very drinkable. I like to use brandy because (IMHO) I feel it really does bring a lot of flavor to the party.

I used the weight of the grapes to determine the expected volume of wine and added fortifier to arrive at 22% ABV. This amounted to (roughly) 2 gallons of brandy to 3 gallons of wine.

After adding the fortifier, I felt that the port should have a much deeper color, so we left the port on the skins for an additional 2 days and pressed it. At this point, the color deepened somewhat.

After about 2 weeks, we racked the port into a medium toast barrel. When we tasted it, we felt that the port was not sweet enough, so at least some back sweetening was in order.

Then came the question.. What to use? I did not like the idea of refined sugars (again, going with the natural sugar theme) so we decided on using maple syrup (shhh, this is supposed to be a secret). My thinking was that the maple flavor (wood) would work well. We ended up adding about a cup or so until it tasted right.

The port was aged in the barrel for the better part of a year and racked 3 times. The amount of time spent in the barrel surprised me, but frequent tastings showed that the port was simply getting better and better. After a year, we bottled in the usual way.

 

[4score]

Thank you to the judges and fellow competitors. Appreciate the feedback. Congratulations to John and Dan.

Mark

 

[GreginND]

Way to go, Dan and John!

Yes, my scores were pretty far apart. I think that is due to the style. A tawny port is aged, oxidized and brown. Some like it (I do) and some don't find it appealing. But it is what it is and I really really appreciate the judges comments - good and critical. They all help me make better wines.

If you want a real experience - there's a winery in Australia that has been putting a barrel of their port away every to age untouched for 100 years before bottling and releasing since 1878. 100 mL will cost you >$2000. It is fascinating.

http://www.seppeltsfieldcentennialcollection.com.au

I suspect those who don't like the oxidized aged tawny's wouldn't care for it!

 

[dangerdave]

Good job, guys! Congrats to our winners! Thanks to our judges.

I need to read through the tasting notes.

Edit: Manley, I'm glad your girlfriend liked the port (her favorate). It was definately a challenge getting body into the triple berry port. It was my first attempt at port, and I learned a lot from the process.

Duster, I like the color, too. Deep, rich, with flavor to match. I've told my wino family---who all love this one---that they're each getting a bottle for Xmas.

Thanks again, guys. It's been fun!

 

[Runningwolf]

My port consisted of ten different Chilean Reds in equal proportions; Cab Franc, Syrah, Merlot, Sangiovese, Cab Sauv, Malbec, Carmenere, Petite Syrah, Barbera and Pinot Noir. I don't remember which yeast I used with each one but it varied a little bit. Goferm was used in the yeast starter, followed up with Fermaid at 15 brix. I used 15 grams per gallon of Oak Dust during fermentation followed up with medium toast Oak Stix during the ageing process. I fermented to dry, then fortified to 19% abv. using spirits made from grapes. It was sweetened to 8.5% rs, making me wonder why a judge said it finished dry. Before adding the spirits I added 3/4 gallon of wild cherry juice to the 10 gallon blend. I filtered throuh a .45 cartridge as I bottled. This wine was very young at just over a year old. Bottled in 375ml bottles (around 140 bottles), I'll have plenty to age for some time. Minimal k-meta was used and none after the spirits were added. Of course no sorbate. I created my own Pearson Square calculator to determine the exact amount of spirits to add.

Where did I go wrong? I should have made the entire 100 gallons into Port. It is far better then he Chilean reds (except Malbec) by them selves or blended with each other. Don't get me wrong the Chilean reds are "ok" but in the future it is going to be local and California for all my reds and whites. I stay away from all Chilean whites. These are my preferences and others might feel different. Thanks to the members here for helping me to pick out the label.

 

[joeswine]

congrates

well congrates to the winners but I'll be waiting for you on the big red side of the mountain will you come out and play?

 

[Duster]

Dan, my comment on a dryer finish may be better explained by an oaky or peppery tart finish that broke away clean and did not linger on the pallet.
I did like the finish, maybe I used the term "dryer" incorrectly.

You should have seen my review on johns port.
"Gritty and unfiltered, the shards of glass seem to cut the tung as I licked the sample off the concrete on my doorstep"


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making Talk App

 

[Boatboy24]

The concrete should have brought a nice minerality and chalkiness to the flavor profile.

 

[dangerdave]

Hmm, shards of glass for the sado-masochistic. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[JohnT]

Hmm, shards of glass for the sado-masochistic. I hadn't thought of that.

Well, at least you got to it before the dog lapped it all up!