Definition - Garrafeira

Anything to do with Port.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: By what process does a garrafeira become a garrafeira?

Post by DRT »

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?
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.

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
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Re: By what process does a garrafeira become a garrafeira?

Post by jdaw1 »

Derek T. wrote:I struggle to understand what becomes different when they are bottled other than possibly ageing faster due to the lower volume.
Or the mixing with oxygen in the act of decanting.
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DRT
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Re: By what process does a garrafeira become a garrafeira?

Post by DRT »

jdaw1 wrote:
Derek T. wrote:I struggle to understand what becomes different when they are bottled other than possibly ageing faster due to the lower volume.
Or the mixing with oxygen in the act of decanting.
That has just reminded me of something I witnessed in the Taylor cellar on Monday that surprised me. I was fortunate enough to witness a pipe of Tawny/Colheita port being Racked. The large cork on the top of the cask was removed and the cask tilted up until it reached an angle of around 45 degrees. The wine was allowed to pour freely into a large stainless steel open-topped vat that had been placed under the cask and it splashed and gurgled around wildly as the air forced its way in through the same hole as the wine was coming out of. This process must introduce huge volumes of oxygen into the wine each time it is racked, which, I think, is every two years or so.

I had always imagined the Racking process to be far more controlled than this with the wine being carefully syphoned out of the pipe through a tube with the minimum of disturbance.

This isn't really anything to do with Garrafeira but I thought I'd share.

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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Frederick Blais
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Re: By what process does a garrafeira become a garrafeira?

Post by Frederick Blais »

Derek T. wrote: 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.
Derek
To my understanding this is VP quality juice that will age 6 years(average) in big vats, just like VP. Then they transfer the port in glass containers of 7-11 liters.

During the first 6 years it will have more oxygen contact than VP, but much less than Colheita since it is in vats. About the same as LBV, but the quality of the Port is better, so it can stand it.

Then in the glass, since the contact liquid/oxygen in a 7-11 liter bottle is much less important than a 750 ml bottle, it will age slower than other port from here until it is decanted back in the 750ml bottle.
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