Douro Bake

[Alex Bridgeman]

Continuing from the thread forming after Axel's tasting note of the '89 Vesuvio, I thought that this topic deserved a thread of its own.

I seem to recall that we had a similar conversation about the origin of Douro Bake with Rupert Symington at Vesuvio and then with Roy in the evening over dinner.

From what I recall, Douro bake can develop at any point in the wine's life and simply requires prolonged exposure to slightly excessive heat - not the rapid variation over a day but more of the "cellar is too warm in the summer" situation. This can be in the barrel or in the bottle. However, the risk is that if it develops in the bottle then you also see leakage or cork failure as the contents of the bottle expand in the heat.

Clearly, you can also get Douro bake developing in the barrel when you think about the taste and texture some of the older tawny blending wines that are help in the Douro by producers we have visited. Small amounts of bake add a nice touch of complexity to certain tawny wines.

I've also had bottles in the past where I know from past experience that the wine is normally fresh and lively and yet the bottle in front of me has been full of stewed fruit and baked rhubarb. Such bottles, I suspect, have been left somewhere too hot and have developed "Central Heating Bake" rather than Douro Bake.

The big mystery to me is that I can't explain why the Vesuvio '89 that I opened yesterday showed no signs of Douro bake. I did note that this was clearly a late release from the Vesuvio cellars. The bottle had a black, plastic undercapsule with "Vesuvio 1989" printed on the top of the undercapsule. Over that undercapsule was the sello and over the top of that was not the blue wax that I was expecting but was a blue zinc / aluminium capsule. I speculate that what happened was:
(a) the 1989 vintage was stored in large tonnels on the Vesuvio estate from winter 1989 through one summer to late spring 1991 and was bottled as early as is permitted for vintage port, being bottled in one complete run.

(b) some of the bottles were then stored in the cellars at Vesuvio while some were removed to Vila Nova de Gaia.

(c) air conditioning was installed in Vesuvio before the end of 1992 and so the most Douro bake that would be seen in the 1989 wines would be in those that had been through three summers (1990, 1991 and 1992) either in the barrel or the bottle.

Perhaps the bottle that I had was one of those that had been despatched to VnG in late spring 1991 after having only had 1 summer of heat exposure and that was also while in a tonnel. Perhaps port can integrate the flavours of Douro bake when stored in a cool, dark place for many years.

What I don't understand and can't explain, is why my bottle of 1989 Vesuvio showed no trace of Douro bake. It was mature and at its peak and perhaps the maturity of the wine had been accelerated by the bake. Since bake flavours are so similar to secondary flavours in a port perhaps these had become integrated into the overall flavour profile of the mature port.

I don't have an explanation - I just know that it worked and that this was a port that was far better than my expectations for it when I pulled it out of my cellar a couple of days ago.

Alex

[Andy Velebil]

Interesting question and I'll add a quick reply before heading off to work. Rupert S. (not Dominic) had stated that all of the 1989 and 1990 vintages of Vesuvio have Douro bake. As the regulations had recently changed in 1986, one no longer had to store Port in VnG. Vesuvio didn't have proper cooling facilities then and it baked everything.

In this day and age of modern cooling, Douro bake is basically a thing of the past.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Andy,

Thanks. You are quite right, it was Rupert and not Dominic who was our host at Vesuvio. Original post now corrected.

Alex

[g-man]

that is interesting,

with wine in heat, I personally figured the change in taste due to improper storage would be when port turns into madiera.

so instead of a lush fruit, you get a more sharp acidic profile...

or does douro bake impart a different kind of taste?

[Frederick Blais]

For me you can't speak of Douro Bake once the port is in bottle. Once in bottle, I'd say that the Port has been damaged by the heat of the Douro creating faulty flavors in Port. Calling it Douro Baked Vesuvio is a nice word to hide a flaw in my opinion. Normally big companies should transfer all their VP stocks the following spring to VNG to avoid the heat. If the symington did not do that, that's another flaw in the making of a great Port in my opinion.

Can we speak of Douro Bake in the port, if the VP vats only spent one summer in large vats?

It is much more present and easy to assess with tawnies and colheitas that spend several summers. Because the higher temperature in non-controled cellar, there is more evaporation in small barrels especially because it take less time to heat them. Large vat are not as much affected because the temperature of the liquid is rising much slower.

Douro Bake was an expression mainly invented to named the difference in flavours from the Tawnies and Colheita aged in the Douro compared to those aged in VNG.

[Frederick Blais]

that is interesting,

with wine in heat, I personally figured the change in taste due to improper storage would be when port turns into madiera.

so instead of a lush fruit, you get a more sharp acidic profile...

or does douro bake impart a different kind of taste?

G-Man, the temperature for madeira is near 50 celcius, we are talking of 25-30 max in a cellar of the Douro. Secondly, don't forget Madeira Vintage Port are all mainly made from white grapes which is the main reason of the acidity.

[RonnieRoots]

I agree completely with Fred. For me, Douro Bake has to do with tawnies.

And it is, by the way, not something of the past. There are still plenty cellars (mostly of smaller producers) that do not have modern cooling facilities, and some large producers even use the Bake on purpose. A good example of this is The Tawny of Graham's. This is younger than a 10YO, but tastes older, due to the fact that the ageing takes place in the Douro (at Quinta do Sol).

[Conky]

I posted this elsewhere, but think its worth repeating,

Most of this thread, appears to refer to the Bake as being a flaw. An overstewed taste that spoils the Port. The Portuguese refer to it as a slight taste variation. A slightly stronger fruit which should still have the drink as perfectly 'drinkable'.

Alan

[Axel P]

Thanks, Alex, for bringing this topic up and discussing it in total again.

After all: isn't it good that Port is not Mathematics and that some things are still matter of surprise and luck. It's like in a relationship (if a port lover is still capable to have something like this): the big kick comes from what is not predictable...

Axel

[Alex Bridgeman]

I guess it comes down to personal preference - do you as an individual prefer your port without a trace of Douro bake or are you happy with some bake?

Personally, I am happy with a touch and part of the maturity of the 1989 Vesuvio that I posted on might come from the bake. If it does, it has integrated itself nicely into the overall flavours of the wine and has added to the complexity and fullness of the wine.

However, I have also had bottles of port (and other wines) in the past that have been stewed. When the wine tastes like this then I do tend to agree with Fred and would regard this as a flaw.

Alex

[Luc]

Thanks, Alex, for bringing this topic up and discussing it in total again.

After all: isn't it good that Port is not Mathematics and that some things are still matter of surprise and luck. It's like in a relationship (if a port lover is still capable to have something like this): the big kick comes from what is not predictable...

Axel

Axel ,
Port may not be Mathematics , but Physics ( see Turnbull Time , Bridgeman Quotientand Conky's Accelerant ) . . .