It was described to me as the combination of oxidative followed by reductive ageing - being a minimum of 7 years in wood followed by 8 years in glass. The other difference is that Garrafeiras are not filtered at any stage. This means that they are unlike VP because the spend 5 years longer in wood and are unlike Colheita because they are unfiltered and continue to age when put into glass. I struggle to understand what becomes different when they are bottled other than possibly ageing faster due to the lower volume.jdaw1 wrote:By what chemical or other process does a garrafeira become a garrafeira? Is it the storing in the large bottle? (So would a very large bottle of VP be garrafeira-like?) Or is it the oxidation that occurs when decanted into 75cl bottles? Or something else?
Derek