For The Love Of Port

It is not news that the oak casks used to make Ruby or Tawny style Ports are produced in old, used, neutral barrels.

Regardless of that, do you ever feel like you can taste the oak in Port wine?

By and large, the oak characteristics are pretty far in the background in a typical glass of Port (at least to my palate.) Every once in awhile I can detect some faint vanilla notes which may be cask related, but for the most part the effect the barrels seem to be pretty netural.

Marc J. wrote:By and large, the oak characteristics are pretty far in the background in a typical glass of Port (at least to my palate.) Every once in awhile I can detect some faint vanilla notes which may be cask related, but for the most part the effect the barrels seem to be pretty netural.

I taste vanilla semi-frequently in port, most common in tawny. If that's wood related, I don't know, but I never said "this port is too oaky".

Seldom in vintage port, LBV and ruby.
But in the tawnies / colheitas it more common, however I wonder whether the nutty aroma and taste I am experiencing is actually the oak/wood.

I can't ever remember having a port that I found oaky in the way that table wine can sometimes be and I can only remember picking up hints of oak on a ruby/VP maybe a couple of times. As others have mentioned, tawnies show oak/vanilla notes much more often but I would think that's only logical considering the extended time that they spend in barrels. I usually find the oak notes on tawnies to be subtle and well integrated rather than over the top as can be the case in say, an overly oaky California Chardonnay.

I agree with most - the oak (which often presents itself as a vanilla flavour) is usually more noticable in the tawnies/colheitas than in the rubies/VP. I have experienced "wood" or "vanilla" in some VPs but also as Moses indicated, it has never been anything to complain about.

If they started using new oak barrels though, i suspect a lot more of the characteristics of the oak woud come screaming out... not necessarily a good thing.

Do they reuse the oak barrels from Douro reds for Colheita/VP later on?

Yes, I do feel like I can detect the oak in LBV's and colheitas. Like Rune, I wonder whether the nutty or 'mahogany' aromas in colheitas come from the wood.