A Wine for the ages... - [San Francisco Chronicle]

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Mario Ferreira
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A Wine for the ages... - [San Francisco Chronicle]

Post by Mario Ferreira »

An interesting Article published in the "San Francisco Chronicle" on December 15, 2005.
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... =printable
/MF. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A wine for the ages
Vintage Ports may be the longest-lived wines, and the just-released 2003s may set a new benchmark

- Richard Carleton Hacker, Special to The Chronicle
Thursday, December 15, 2005

Image Image
Chronicle / Craig Lee

When it comes to after-dinner drinks, vintage Ports are among the rarest and most coveted, yet they are also the most misunderstood. Consequently, vintage Ports are often passed over in favor of more familiar single-malt Scotches, brandies and Cognacs.

That's a missed opportunity for the serious epicure, especially now, when the 2003 vintage Ports are just being released. These may prove to be the greatest Ports since vintages were first declared in the 1700s.

Just as Cognac can only come from that region of France, and tequila can only be distilled in Jalisco, Mexico, true Port must be made in the Douro region of Portugal. Unfortunately, Port's image problem is compounded by the fact that in many parts of the world, including California, "port" is often used as a generic term for any fortified sweet wine.

"Fortified" means the wines used for Port have a high-proof brandy added during fermentation. Although barrel-aged brandies were used during the 19th century, they have evolved into a specially distilled, 100-plus proof, clear, neutral spirit that is no longer a libation you would want to sip from a snifter. But they do have a more refined effect in producing better Ports.

The addition of this brandy boosts the wines' alcoholic content to about 20 percent, killing the yeasts that ferment grape sugar into alcohol. This halts further fermentation, leaving some sugar in the wine, which gives Port its distinctive sweetness.

A vintage Port means simply that all the grapes were harvested in that year. But it also means much more.

It takes an exceptional harvest for a Port to qualify as a vintage. That means a cold and rainy winter to set the stage for soil and vines, a dry, warm spring to nurture the roots and stimulate growth, and finally, a long, hot summer that lingers into fall, resulting in grapes plump with natural sugar and juice and bursting with pent-up flavors.

That is not an easy criteria for vineyards struggling to sink their roots 30 to 40 feet down into the steep, sun-bleached granite slopes that trace the Douro River as it snakes across Portugal, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Spanish border.

Because the Douro is broken up into numerous microclimates, Port makers may declare any year to be a vintage, independent of other growing areas around them. But declaration is not enough. Samples of their proposed vintage Port must pass a rigid evaluation by the government-controlled Port Wine Institute. In the second year after harvest, the color, aroma, structure and taste are all analyzed by both scientific tests and human tasters.

When the majority of Port houses experience optimum growing and harvesting conditions, as happened in 2003, that vintage is "universally declared" by the Institute. Nonetheless, each individual vintage Port must still pass the tests.

Small wonder, then, only 2 percent of Port's total production meets all the requirements for vintage designation. During the past 100 years, only 26 vintages have been universally declared.

"The 2003 vintage was very sweet, very fruity, very much in our house style," says Charles Symington, winemaker and fourth generation of Symington Family Estates, Portugal's oldest family-owned Port shipper and producers of Dow's, W. & J. Graham's, Warre's, Smith Woodhouse and Quinta do Vesuvio. "It was a fantastic vintage."

Of Portugal's more than 30 red grape varietals, only the top five - Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão and Tinta Barroca -- are usually blended to create a vintage Port according to the individual style of each Port house.

"The key was that we had perfect weather throughout the whole of the vintage year," Symington says about 2003. "And what was great about that was that when we planted the vintage, we basically scheduled the picking dates for each one of the varieties, based upon having good weather throughout, which sometimes doesn't always happen. But in 2003 things went absolutely perfectly; we picked each variety at its prime, and that was really the key to this vintage."

Once approved, the vintage is barrel-aged in Portugal for two years before being bottled.

Vintage Ports possess the richest flavors, greatest complexity and longest aging potential of any wine. In the past century, some of the greatest vintage years have been 1931, 1945, 1950, 1963, 1970, 1977, 1985, 1994, 1997 and 2000. Recently, 1963 was the benchmark for all others to beat. Then came the 2000 vintage, which threatens to beat 1963 in the long run. But now the 2003 bottling could eclipse even these classics.

"The 2003 has got that really good balance in terms of fruit and tannin," says George Sandeman, seventh generation of the House of Sandeman, founded in 1790 and the first growers to vintage-date Port.

"There is a lot of cassis and red fruit coming through, keeping in mind that it's only been bottled recently, so it's still very young," Sandeman says. "But it's all pulling together in the bottle. Compared to some other recent vintages, the 1994 -- although one of my favorites -- is more forward, the 1997 was comparatively light - a good solid vintage but not one of the great vintages - and the 2000 has more finesse. But when you look at the 2003, you have a little bit more going on. The 2003 has more body. In fact, it's got more of everything -- complexity, sophistication and intensity."

Tannin is one of the keys to a vintage Port's long-term survival, for in addition to flavor, color, and structure, one of the overriding characteristics of a great vintage Port is how well - and how long - it can be aged to achieve its maximum potential.

Bottles of the 1963 vintages that haven't already been consumed for weddings, births, graduations and job promotions are still maturing and escalating in flavor, along with rarity and price. A current bottle of vintage Port costs as much as a good bottle of wine, but with older vintages, prices can escalate well into three-digit categories.

Last year, I opened a 1963 Dow's and even after more than 40 years in the bottle, found this thick, fruity vintage exploded on the palate with blackberries, cherries and honey. And although the full-bodied and succulent Taylor Fladgate and Fonseca 1963 vintages would appear to be at their optimum right now, these wines are still evolving and could have staying power well into the first half of this century.

In fact, it seems some vintages simply don't know when to stop aging. At a San Francisco tasting in October 2003 with Miguel Corte-Real, commercial and viticultural director for Cockburn's (pronounced Koh-burnz), we opened a bottle of Cockburn's 1912 vintage. Even though its once-deep purple color had faded to pale amber, the wine was surprisingly rich, with distinctive flavors of peppery dried fruit and burnt citrus.

And just last year, finding a bottle of Warre's 1945 that I feared might have peaked, I opened it on Christmas Eve. Although the color had drifted to golden bronze, the wine was laden with honeyed flowers dusted with cinnamon and nuts. I probably could have waited another decade before uncorking it.

This brings up the philosophical dilemma of just when to open a bottle of vintage Port. The reality is, it depends more on the wine's structure than its vintage.

Some 1970 and 1985 vintages, including Fonseca and Warre's, have run their course and should be drunk now. That is why many vintages from these years are starting to appear on restaurant menus.

One of the unique anomalies of the 2003 vintage is that while it has all the intense fruit and heavy tannins that mark it as a wine that can age for a half-century or more, it is enjoyable now.

Yet in this age of instant gratification, do we really want to take the time to age a vintage Port to perfection?

If I'm still around in 2053, I may not have the strength to pull the cork on a bottle of 2003 vintage Port, the eyesight to decant it, or enough sensory perception left to smell and taste its heavenly qualities.

"There are very few people laying down wine anymore in England and on the Continent," says Sandeman. "Traditionally, you would have had bottles left to you by your father, and you in turn would have passed your bottles on to your heirs. But that was more an English tradition; it's not so much an American custom, and today there are more serious connoisseurs of vintage Ports in America than you have in England."

As alternatives, one can pay the tariff for an older vintage and enjoy the elegance of a Port that has already been aged, or drink a young vintage and project what it might be like in the future.

Sandeman vintages are relatively light and can be enjoyed now, because the finesse is already there. But others, like the voluptuous Fonseca and the limited Quinta do Vesuvio, need time for their liquid thunder to settle down into a velvet purr.

But the best-laid plans can be as unpredictable as the best-laid Ports. Years ago, when one of my best friends became a father, I presented him with a bottle of vintage Port, to be opened on his son's 21st birthday. My friend dutifully carried that bottle from apartment to condo to house, as our lives progressed. But his son failed to develop a taste for alcoholic beverages. So on Kevin's 21st birthday, Ron and I opened the Port and drank it ourselves.
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Pointers on Port

-- Like any wine, Port should be stored on its side, and kept in a cool, dark place.

-- Air is the enemy of vintage Port. Once a bottle is opened, it should be consumed within 24 hours. Consequently, it's best enjoyed with friends.

-- Vintage Port is unfiltered. That means even young ones will throw a sediment. Before opening a bottle, stand it upright for 24 hours so the sediment will settle to the bottom.

-- To separate the sediment from the wine, vintage Port should be decanted using a strainer, cheesecloth or coffee filter. As an alternative, pour the Port into each glass (or a decanter) slowly, with a strong light behind the bottle (traditionally a candle is used) to see the sediment as it is captured in the shoulder of the bottle, just before it reaches the neck. Stop pouring just before the sediment travels into the neck.

-- Port is a heavy wine and in the absence of traditional Port glasses (which are typically too small anyway), use a Bordeaux or Cabernet glass.

-- Richard Carleton Hacker

Richard Carleton Hacker is a wine and spirits writer for numerous magazines, including the Robb Report and Playboy. E-mail him at wine@sfchronicle.com.
Last edited by Mario Ferreira on Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Steven Kooij
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Post by Steven Kooij »

Should we play "spot the errors" with this article? :roll:
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Andy Velebil
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Post by Andy Velebil »

Steven Kooij wrote:Should we play "spot the errors" with this article? :roll:
Got a few, but overall, a really nice article. It really gets the imagination going to envision sipping a nice glass of an aged VP :!:
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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