Ep 346: Port Wine

10/12/20 • 59 min

Port is an historical, complex, and sometimes confusing wine, but it is more than worth your time to learn about. M.C. Ice go over everything from the vineyards of the Douro, to the history of this wine (with geopolitical implications), to how it's made, and the array of styles. There's something for everyone in the world of Port and after this show, you should be able to figure out which is for you!

Here is the written primer to go along with the show...

The Basics: What is Port?

Port is a Portuguese fortified wine, meaning you add distilled grape spirit, or brandy, to the wine at some point during production. A wine is technically only Port if grapes are from the Douro Valley in northeast Portugal and winemaking takes place there or in the area surround the city of Porto on the Atlantic Coast. There are tons of styles and flavors of this wine – there’s something for everyone.

Douro Valley: The Vineyards

The Douro Valley wine region follows the path of the Douro River as it comes out of Spain into Portugal. The region goes west through rugged, remote, steep and terraced granite mountains of northern Portugal, past the city of Porto into Atlantic Ocean. There are three official zones of the Douro Valley: the Baixo (lower) Corgo, the Cima (higher) Corgo and the Douro Superior

Baixo Corgo is the westernmost zone and is cool, rainy and the sub region with the most vineyards.Often these grapes are for cheap ruby and tawny Port
Cima Corgo is upstream from the Baixo Corgo and is where the best vineyards for Port are located. Hotter and drier than Baixo, these excellent grapes are used for Vintage, Reserve, aged Tawny, and Late Bottled Vintage Ports
Douro Superior is the easternmost zone, going right up to the Spanish border. It has a lot of land but is least developed. It is the hottest, driest area, and a bit flatter

Land and Climate

The Douro has hot, dry summers and steep rocky hillsides bordering the Douro River and its tributaries. The thin, poor schist and granite soils force the grapes to dig deep into schist to look for water and force humans to build terraces to do viticulture: 2/3 of vineyard are on slopes with 30%+ grade.

The Grapes

Reds: Producers are permitted to use more than 80 red varieties but 5 are widely used: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Cão. The best wines are blended from low yielding vines with grapes that are small with thick skins and good acidity levels. The grapes here, with the exception of Tempranillo, are indigenous and suited to the hot, dry conditions of the Douro. There is nothing else that tastes like these blends
Whites (30 allowed): Gouveio, Malvasia Fino, Moscatel, Vinosinho, Rabigato, Esgana-Cão (Sercial of Madeira, dog strangler), others

History of Port: Most of the information on Port was on Taylor Fladgate’s excellent site.

Winemaking: The Steps

Grow grapes in Douro. The IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto– Port and Douro Wines Institute)uses the beneficio system (similar to the Échelle des Crus in Champagne) to classify vineyards with a grade that will determine the quantity of Port Wine that can be made from each parcel.
Put the grapes in a vat (different varieties are usually co-fermented). Stomp them by foot or press them and then start fermentation. When you get to the sugar level you want in the finished wine, run the wine out of the lagar into a vat. To that runoff of juice, add aguardente to kill the yeast and stop fermentation, leaving some sweetness. The resulting wine is usually 19% to 20% alcohol
Let the wine chill out in Douro until spring, evaluate it for what style of Port it will make and then take the wine to lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia near the city of Porto to be blended, aged, bottled and then sold.
The real magic is in the ageing…

Ageing & Port Styles

Ports differ because of the quality of the vineyards/grapes, the makeup of the blend, and the ageing regimens they go through. Age softens the bitter, astringent tannins and with time older Ports become brownish in color, soft in tannin, and full of interesting aromas and flavors.

Port is classified by how long and WHAT it’s aged in: Wood or bottle

Wood Aged Port is matured in wooden barrels. They’re permeable to air so this is called oxidative aging. These wines lose color faster than bottle aged Ports.
Bottle Aged Port is aged in barrel for 2 or fewer years. It then goes into a bottle and the buyer ages it in their own cellar. Vintage Port, the finest of all Ports, is made this way.

Here is the written primer to go along with the show...

The Basics: What is Port?

Douro Valley: The Vineyards

Baixo Corgo is the westernmost zone and is cool, rainy and the sub region with the most vineyards.Often these grapes are for cheap ruby and tawny Port
Cima Corgo is upstream from the Baixo Corgo and is where the best vineyards for Port are located. Hotter and drier than Baixo, these excellent grapes are used for Vintage, Reserve, aged Tawny, and Late Bottled Vintage Ports
Douro Superior is the easternmost zone, going right up to the Spanish border. It has a lot of land but is least developed. It is the hottest, driest area, and a bit flatter

Land and Climate

The Grapes

Reds: Producers are permitted to use more than 80 red varieties but 5 are widely used: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Cão. The best wines are blended from low yielding vines with grapes that are small with thick skins and good acidity levels. The grapes here, with the exception of Tempranillo, are indigenous and suited to the hot, dry conditions of the Douro. There is nothing else that tastes like these blends
Whites (30 allowed): Gouveio, Malvasia Fino, Moscatel, Vinosinho, Rabigato, Esgana-Cão (Sercial of Madeira, dog strangler), others

History of Port: Most of the information on Port was on Taylor Fladgate’s excellent site.

Winemaking: The Steps

Grow grapes in Douro. The IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto– Port and Douro Wines Institute)uses the beneficio system (similar to the Échelle des Crus in Champagne) to classify vineyards with a grade that will determine the quantity of Port Wine that can be made from each parcel.
Put the grapes in a vat (different varieties are usually co-fermented). Stomp them by foot or press them and then start fermentation. When you get to the sugar level you want in the finished wine, run the wine out of the lagar into a vat. To that runoff of juice, add aguardente to kill the yeast and stop fermentation, leaving some sweetness. The resulting wine is usually 19% to 20% alcohol
Let the wine chill out in Douro until spring, evaluate it for what style of Port it will make and then take the wine to lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia near the city of Porto to be blended, aged, bottled and then sold.
The real magic is in the ageing…

Ageing & Port Styles

Port is classified by how long and WHAT it’s aged in: Wood or bottle

Wood Aged Port is matured in wooden barrels. They’re permeable to air so this is called oxidative aging. These wines lose color faster than bottle aged Ports.
Bottle Aged Port is aged in barrel for 2 or fewer years. It then goes into a bottle and the buyer ages it in their own cellar. Vintage Port, the finest of all Ports, is made this way.

Previous Episode

Ep 345: CVNE -- A Rioja Legend with CEO Victor Urrutia

In the show, I welcome Victor Urrutia, the CEO of the Compañia Vinícola del Norte de España (CVNE) one of the most famed bodegas in Rioja, which has been around since 1879. Victor is part of the 5th generation of a family that has run CVNE (said coo-NAY) for 141 years. We discuss the storied history of this classic, traditional, high quality bodega, and probe into a dozen other Rioja-related topics.

Victor and I cover many subjects, and I was thrilled to have him - it’s been really hard for me to find Spanish producers to come on the show and he comes from one of the most historic, classic, and outstanding bodegas in Rioja (I drink A LOT of CVNE!). Here’s a high level of what you’ll find in the show:

Victor tells us the story of his family in Rioja and in wine, and his circuitous route to becoming a leader that combines a progressive attitude with a strong respect for tradition.
We dork out on the Rioja region. Victor tells us all about what is important and what is not in the world of Rioja wine. We discuss the three major regions (Alta, Alavesa, Baja/Oriental) and how they differ in geography, grape types, and traditions.
We hit on climate, climate change, and the land that surrounds Rioja
Victor compares Rioja to Champagne (at first I was skeptical, but I see his point now and you will too) and the movement towards single vineyard wines to the grower movement. We have a nerdy discussion about Italians in Barolo, the French in Champagne, and the Riojanos and how all these regions share much common ground (I promise, it comes together!).
Victor tells us about the differences between the four brands under the CVNE umbrella in short:
- CVNE is the flagship brand. Grapes come from both Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, and from warmer and cooler climates to make highly drinkable, tasty wine. CVNE is made every year, and is made in a traditional style. It is a classic Rioja which changes with vintage, but never wavers on quality.
- Imperial is Reserva and Gran Reserva only. These wines are structured, excellent for aging, and only made in the best years from estate grown fruit in Rioja Alta. First made in the 1920s, these wines are the benchmark style of classic Rioja for many familiar with the region.
- Viña Real was also launched in the 1920s, but it is more fruit forward, has a stronger new oak component and a higher percentage of Garnacha to make it more fruit forward and “modern” in style. Grapes come from Rioja Alavesa.

- Contino is CVNE’s single vineyard brand, established in 1973. These wines are reflective of the site in Rioja Alavesa and are usually more fruit forward and powerful than either Imperial or Viña Real.
- Monopole is the white wine we mention, that has a portion of Sherry blended in, representing the old school style. It’s outstanding.

We end with a few business questions about how Spain invested to become such a force in the modern wine world, the future of Rioja if Alavesa (which is located squarely in Basque country) was to separate from the larger region, and the plans for CVNE, which involve never being satisfied and always doing better (an excellent goal).

This is a lively, unique look at Rioja. Take a listen then try these wines – I have been a pretty loyal drinker for years and I can promise that if you like Rioja, these will wow you!

And register for current classes at: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes _____________________________________________________

Thanks to our sponsors this week:

Wine Access

Visit: www.wineaccess.com/normal and for a limited time get $20 off your first order of $50 or more!

Next Episode

Ep 347: The Grape Miniseries -- Viognier

Saved from the brink of extinction just 50 years ago, Viognier (pronounced vee-ohn-yay), is a white grape that's native to the Northern Rhône in France – mainly the areas of Condrieu and Ampuis. The grape produces effusive wines with a strong aromatic character -- peaches, apricots, flowers, herbs, and ginger are common -- and when made well it has a medium body with a touch of acidity and a pleasant bitterness. This week we continue the grape mini-series (maxi series now?) by exploring this comeback kid and the pleasure it can bring when in the right hands.

History

Viognier's parentage is a bit ambiguous, but it is related to Mondeuse Blanche, which makes it either a half sibling or grandparent of Syrah (as MC Ice points out, we could definitely make a word problem out of this – it’s a brain twister to think about, but possible!). The grape is also tied to Freisa and may be related to Nebbiolo, both which are native to the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy.

Viognier was once grown pretty widely in the northern Rhône but the combination of the phylloxera outbreak in the mid- and late-19th century, followed by WWI, the Depression, and WWII drove a lot of growers to cities and left vineyards abandoned. By 1965, only about 30 acres (12 hectares) of Viognier vines remained in France, and the variety was nearly extinct.

In the mid-1980s, interest started to grow both in France and from winegrowers in Australia and California. Growing interest lead to more plantings and today the grape is grown in Condrieu, Chateau Grillet, and Côte Rôtie in the Northern Rhône, all over the southern Rhône for blends, the Languedoc in southern France, as well as in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and Spain.

Climate and Vineyard

Viognier needs a long, warm growing season to fully ripen, but not so hot it develops excessive levels of sugar before its aromatic notes can develop. Viognier must get ripe to allow flavor to develop and that happens late, often after sugars develop.
Viognier is a small thick-skinned berry with good resistance to rot. It does well on acidic, granite soils. Older vines – more than 30 or 50 years old are best for the grape.
There are at least two clones of Viognier. The older, original one from Condrieu is highly aromatic and tight clustered. The other is healthier, higher yielding and looks and tastes different according to some. This clone, likely made at the University of Montpellier, is widespread in Australia.

Winemaking begins in the vineyard – picking decision is vital:

Pick too early and the grape has no flavor, and makes a flat wine. Pick too late the wine is flabby and oily. Must be ripe but not overripe, with lower yields.
Although it is likely best to make the wine in stainless or neutral oak with perhaps some skin contact for a few hours before fermenting, the barrel fermentations, malolactic fermentations, and aging on lees can squash the unique flavor and scent of Viognier.

Flavors and Styles

Viognier is like peach, apricot, clementine, honeysuckle, chamomile, jasmine, thyme, pine, spice, ginger, crème fraiche, and honey with a full body and can be oily, or sometimes a bit bitter. It is low in acidity. When aged in oak it tastes like vanilla bean and with malolactic fermentation it is creamy and custard-like. It is almost always high in alcohol, with 14.5% ABV being common. The best Viognier from France often doesn’t age, and even loses aromas after a few years in the bottle. Some of the styles from Australia and the US, which have been aged in oak, last a few more years.
The grape is often bottled as a single variety but can be blended with Roussanne, Marsanne, and Grenache Blanc.
We didn’t mention this in the show, but the wine can be off-dry or even late harvest and sweet. Condrieu and Château-Grillet produce sweet wines in warmer years.

Regions...

France

Northern Rhône: Viognier is grown as single variety in Rhône appellations Condrieu and Château Grillet on right (west) bank of Rhône River. In Côte Rôtie, winemakers can include up to 20% of Viognier though most growers add no more than 5%.

Condrieu

Includes seven communes along 14 miles, and makes wines that are usually dry, delicious young, and very aromatic wit structure. The area includes steep hillside vineyards, that face south-southeast to maximize morning sun, not hot evening sun. The soils are granite with a deep sandy topsoil called arzelle. This soil makes the best wine. Yields must be low, and picking must be after the grape has full aromatics.
Top producers: Guigal, Rostaing, Delas, Pierre Gaillard, Vernay, Francois Villard

Chateau Grillet