What do you like and/or look for in a Port's house style?

[Roy Hersh]

You can name Port producers and/or shippers that have an alluring house style that appeals to your tastes and tell us which characteristics keep you coming back for more.

[Andy Velebil]

Niepoort,

it has such an incredible spicyness on the nose and palate that I love and have not found in any other producer on such a consistant basis.

[Scott Anaya]

Used to be Graham's because I originally really loved the jam I would get from them.

Now however, it is clearly Fonseca for me. I just love the 100% of everything in Fonseca, from big fruit, to big tannin. I have only tasted back to '55, but that along with the '63, '66, and '70, all four of them still have time in my book to reach the full extent of maturity. This fact has me super excited to own a mini vertical of almost every Fonseca VP '63 to date.

I have had alot of fun tasting the Fonseca 85, 92, 94, 97, and 2000's over my short 10 year VP drinking history. They are all big, big, big, but balanced, balanced, balanced with powerful yet lush tannins that i really have come to enjoy. And I cannot wait to be abel to taste them (if) whenever they mature and everything comes together in the coming decades and be able to remember back when they were young and showing off their high octane racey components.

And am I sad that I just recently discoverd one of my last two '63's is a leaker??? Not really, as I happily stood him up on death row!

[Frederick Blais]

What I look for in a Port is

Freshness, when its too concentrated and heavy you get bored
Complexity, needs to light some intellect
Balance, don't you want to have a 2nd sip :)
Lenght, I don't want to get drunk too fast
Concentration, the dentist doesn't like it so lay it down for more years
Quality of tannins, I don't like the feeling of being sandblasted with tannins

Right now, in their youth, the producers I really appreciate and that I do think are making real effort putting all those qualities forward making their Port are:

My top 3 in any order:
Noval
Niepoort
Fonseca

Of course, Taylor's, Graham's, Warre's, Vesuvio are close. I've never been a big fan of Dow's appart from 77. Ferreira, Croft, Corkburn can nail a few vintages but not as consistent as those above. Calem, Pocas and Sandeman imho are on the rise at the moment and we should keep an eye on them!

In the small league, I really like qta Vale Meao, Pintas and Jose Maria Fonseca are producing quality stuff, lets see what he can do now that he is on his own from 2005.

[Todd Pettinger]

From Scott's description, it sounds like I am destined to like Fonseca a lot because I do like many of the similar qualities that he describes (big fruit, strength and backbone.)

One thing I do NOT like in a Vintage Port is a tannin that is so harsh and mouth-puckeringly astringent that I need to let it sit two weeks in the decanter. Some of the young powerhouses appear to be this way right now, but I realize they will come along.

I do tend to like the sweeter side of ports. Dry doesn't seem to be my cup of tea, however I should qualify that statement with a caveat: I like sweet, but not so overly sweet that it chases any of the fruit out. If there is overpowering RS, it likely can be considered TOO sweet.

Todd

[Roy Hersh]

Todd, from what you describe ... may I suggest trying the 1995 Ferreira and Ferreira in particular. Graham's may also appeal to you but I have a feeling that Ferreira will do the trick from what I've read of your Port enjoyment.

[Marc J.]

I like a certain amount of sweetness, but not something that will be overpowering. I also like to know that the backbone is there, but I'd rather not experience mouth puckering tannins. With that said, Warre typically provides the balance that I'm looking for.


Noval, Niepoort & Burmester are also high on the list as well. Of course Taylor, Graham, Dow & Fonseca are pleasures to drink, but if I were to pick just one shipper I'd be Warre.

[Jay Powers]

For me, I think I like two different types of Vintage Port, depending on the mood and circumstances:

The first is a more delicate style, with plenty of complexity but not overpowering fruit or tannins. When I'm in this mood I go with Warres or somthing similar, or maybe older Grahams.

The second is a more fruit driven and robust wine in a more upfront hedonistic style. When I'm in this mood I would go with Vesuvio (1994 in particular), Niepoort, or maybe Fonseca.

It's nice that there are at least two styles (I'm sure more discerning drinkers will say more than two) to fit the mood!

Jay

[Roy Hersh]

Excellent. Great posts so far. I hope others will also chip in here. Interesting to say the least.

[Todd Pettinger]

Todd, from what you describe ... may I suggest trying the 1995 Ferreira and Ferreira in particular. Graham's may also appeal to you but I have a feeling that Ferreira will do the trick from what I've read of your Port enjoyment.

Thanks Roy, I have a suspicion that you are very accurate. The first VP I tried was the Ferreira '97 and it was fabulous. I will be acquiring more of it and whatever other Ferreira Vintages that I can get my hands on.

Todd

[Rob Walters]

This is a fascinating thread. Anyone have any idea why the house styles are different? Presumably this relates to the grape source (ie vineyard loaction) or is it winemaking, viticultural decisions? Would be interested to know if there is any reading on this subject from you Roy somewhere on the site?

[Al B.]

Rob,

I think that the reason for the differences are all of the points that you have suggested, plus the weight of history. The long established major shippers have developed a style that works for them and which they stick with. Even when the shippers are acquired by another company (for example, the Symingtons buying Grahams) they often maintain the same style for the wines so as to distinguish them from other wines in the stable.

The difference in styles comes from a combination of raw materials and of wine-making styles. The grapes available to the wine-maker will bring their own subtle differences to a wine based on geography, topography and even the different varieties where these have been planted together in a mixed "field blend" vineyard. If you like, these are the terroir variations that come with a wine even if Vintage Port is a blend across a number of different vineyards. Because there are long term relationships between grape-growers you would normally see grapes from the same vineyards being included in the same blends year after year. Perhaps the blending across vineyards gets rid of the terroir influences, but perhaps not.

The wine-maker's choices as to the style of wine will have a significant influence on the house style and the consistency of the wine to this style across a range of vintages. The wine-maker will be able to choose whether to ferment the wines slightly longer to make a drier style of port or to ferment for a slightly shorter time to make a slightly sweeter style of port. When blending lottes together, the wine-maker will be able to choose a higher proportion of lottes with a lot of tannin extracted into them to make a tannic beast that takes a long time to soften. There are a lot of choices that the wine-maker has and these will have a great influence on the final wine and its consistency - or style - across vintages. You can see how successful the wine-maker is when you consider how little a port style changes when a grape-gower or Quinta stops supplying grapes to one house and starts supplying a rival instead.

I'm sure that there is some reading on the topic, but off the top of my head I can't think of any immediate references. If I come across anything, I'll try to put a reply here.

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, it is nice and reassuring to have the brilliance of Alex B. back in our midst.

[Al B.]

Why thank you, kind words indeed.

Work gets in the way of port too often in my life, at the moment. But I'd rather have it that way and then at least be able to have the funds to indulge my hobby.

Alex

[Todd Pettinger]

That WAS a brilliant response Alex... bravo - good to see you back after a bit of off-line time. (I know what you mean about work getting in the way. More and more often I find myself her at nights to release a little steam and unwind from the day. (The glass of port in hand that almost always accompanies this helps! )

Todd

[Rob Walters]

Just got back from being away to catch this post. Thanks so much Al B. Highly erudite. I have been in the wine industry for over 20 years but I have to confess it is a style of wine I have largely ignored. I find myself at a lot of dinners these days where VPs are served masked at the end of the meal and we all play options to establish which producer made the wine. I am hopeless! Now I am trying to fast track my knowledge. So this is all very helpful. Now if I can just get my head around the styles that each producer I'll be on my way. This will come with tastings I guess but also very handy to hear the thoughts of more experienced drinkers.
Thanks again.

[Roy Hersh]

Rob,

Do your friends tend to "guess" the producer of the bagged bottle of Port, correctly?

Vintage is hard enough, when tasting blind ... but I find that MUCH easier to come close to, or nail on occasion ... than coming up with the right producer.

I have seen the leaders of the Port trade do this. 22 of them if I am not mistaken. Only two guessed correctly. This taught me a great deal about blind tasting:

a. you are far more likely to be wrong than right.
b. if the experts from the trade can't do it ... what makes me think I can?
c. you can have a great palate and extraordinary knowledge and still suck at blind "guessing" at tastings.
d. tasting blind is about as humbling as anything you can achieve with wine other than passing out drunk & naked in the bathroom and having your mother walk in and wake you up.

[Rob Walters]

Roy, I agree, tasting "blind" is immensely difficult, not just for Port but for all wines. In Australia it is a very popular pastime in the trade but here we play what we call "options" where you get three options (so you have a much better chance of guessing correctly) for each category: country, region, style, classification (1er, grand cru, etc), vintage or whatever applies to the wine. Obviously with VPs its vintage, producer and (if they make more than one VP), which wine. I have however seen people nail a wine outright before any options were asked. I was lucky enough to be at a dinner last year where the 63 Nacional was served blind (one of the experiences that made me aware of what I was missing out on by not drinking enough VP!) and one of of the guests immediately called the wine correctly. I was quite staggered by this, as I was by the wine!
Anyway I totally agree with all your points about the difficulty of tasting blind. I personally think it has its role, but too much emphasis is placed on the value of this kind of tasting (at least in Australia).

[Todd Pettinger]

I was lucky enough to be at a dinner last year where the 63 Nacional was served blind (one of the experiences that made me aware of what I was missing out on by not drinking enough VP!) and one of of the guests immediately called the wine correctly. I was quite staggered by this, as I was by the wine!

Wow, that is quite a 'blind' tasting to walk into... I would love to have the chance to try the 63 Nacional, never mind blind!

Todd

[Roy Hersh]

Todd,

And someday so you shall. You'll never forget your first!