Irrelevant Port Questions.

[DRT]

Is it the processes that are referred to as 'Port' or the wine that those processes produce?

My guess would be that they both use similar technology to make their wines - e.g. stainless steal automated treading machines

[Conky]

No.

The answer is legitimate, no tricks,etc. One of those facts that if you didn't know, would raise an eyebrow.

[KillerB]

David Guimaraens, the head winemaker studied oenology in South Australia.

[Conky]

Correct

Not only that, which I found very surprising, but having finished his education, he worked in the Wine/port trade in the Australian Barrosa Valley, and also in California, before returning to Fonseca and his great family tradition. He is actually Head Winemaker for Taylor and Croft, as well as Fonseca.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Now I didn't know that!

[SimonSaysDrink]

ANOTHER QUESTION, but one posed because I do not actually know the answer and hope someone does...

What is the technical, perhaps it is the Portuguese, name for the brandy added to arrest the fermenting juice?

And generally speaking, what is its actual proof (as in actual ethanol, not proof of where you acquired your information )

Thank you.

SSD

[Conky]

It's a neutral clear 'brandy like' concoction called aguardente.
It's controlled by the IVDP.

I'm led to believe some people drink it on it's own, but it's not really caught on.

Aguardente literally means 'Burning water'. I think its between 30 and 45% proof. But someone may correct me on that?

Alan

[SimonSaysDrink]

And this brandy-is it byproduct of a winery's own production, or dolled out by various government-controlled, privately or publically operated producers?

And does the strength of the aguardente change-can it be changed, rather-to accommodate intended variations in the winemaking process. For instance, I'll candidly (and novicely) speculate that some wines, say Tawny perhaps or any other wood-aged Port, would benefit in some ways from less of a tendency to oxidate too fast. Yes, we want oxidation to take place in its own special way, some producers might say, but we want a buffer there to keep it from occuring too rapidly.

Do producers then in these instances, with these intentions or any others, vary the strength of the brandy they add to effect a specific end. Or is the process more or less straightforward and simple, regardless of the winemaker's aim: hit the fortification window just right, add the brandy, bam. You're done. Age it in wood and let it oxidize, or throw it in the bottle and let the children play.

Gotta go take care of some business around town, but look forward to ready y'all's responses when next I log on-line. Right now, I will be offline. Not necessarily off-linING, due to my driving responsibilities, but nevertheless not online. I think there must be a distinction in the words if they're to be used as either a verb or a noun (in this case adjectival noun). Sorry, strayed off line for a second. Or wait, is that 'strayed off-line'? Da-mn, this shi+s crazy.

[DRT]

It used to be centrally controlled and distributed but now each winemaker is free to either produce it themselves or buy it in.

I believe it is made specifically for the purpose it serves and is not a by-product of another process.

Derek

[Alex Bridgeman]

I can't say it any better than Derek.

However, Brandy produced by chemical means (rather than fermentation and distillation of grape juice) is frowned upon following some unfortuante errors made in the early '70s.

Alex

[mosesbotbol]

I've seen a port that said it was fortified with Cognac specifically. It was a while back and may've been Aussie port, but thought it was Portugal.

Has anyone seen this before?

[SimonSaysDrink]

Back again-thank you all for the good info. Still quite curious about the strength of the brandy that goes into the juice. Is it extremely alcoholic or simply rah-thah alcoholic?

And I have to believe someone in these forums has to have had aguardente on its own...what was it like? AACH, I oughta just start a new thread with these kinds of questions. They almost smack of relevance and pertinence.

Forgive me.

[DRT]

And I have to believe someone in these forums has to have had aguardente on its own...what was it like?

I think it is 70% - which is much more that raart-ther.

I tasted it on its own at Niepoort in October. It is more or less tasteless and odourless and just burns.

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

To me, it pretty much smells like Tequilla and taste like really cheap tequilla, but harsher. Pour some on your hand, let it dry, then smell your hand...I know its suppost to be odorless, but can you really make any alcohol without some odor. Acutally, if you do the above, then smell a young port, you will notice a very simillar odor.

[SimonSaysDrink]

Thanks for all the good info guys-much appreciated.

[Todd P]

Aguardente, I believe, has a concentration of around 77% alcohol.

And Andy, yes, you can make an almost-odourless spirit of high concentration... Everclear... Grain alcohol from the US... 95% abv or 190 proof. Yup, it tastes like 95% alcohol too.

In fact, shortly after high school, we had another name for it: "liquid panty-remover!"

Todd

[Andy Velebil]

Ahh yes, I forgot about Everclear. In college I once used it to remove paint from a counter top then made maragrita's with it

[Luc]

Ahh yes, I forgot about Everclear. In college I once used it to remove paint from a counter top then made maragrita's with it

What !! You made It with Marguerite on a counter in college . . .