ThePortForum.com

[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&p=17558#p17558]Here[/url] mosesbotbol wrote:Is it a fair assertion that if a port takes 12+ hours or so to open, that it can stand cellaring maybe another 10 years? Is there a relation to decanting time and potential cellaring?

A splendid question. Is it true that a port needing â”°Â¥12 hours in the decanter will still improve in the cellar? (Possible exception: Nacional 1967.)

I don't think that could be thought of as a general rule. Graham's 1977 would be the example I would use to demontrate this as I don't believe it will benefit from further cellaring but, from the two examples I have tasted in recent days, it does benefit fro extended decanting.

However, if I am opening a port which I know to have a long cellar life ahead I would tend to give it lots of time in the decanter to open up.

DRT wrote:I don't think that could be thought of as a general rule. Graham's 1977 would be the example I would use to demontrate this as I don't believe it will benefit from further cellaring.

Would additional cellaring lower the decanting time? If so, then yes it could use more cellaring.

Would a port be at its prime if within 8 hours of decanting it is at its best? How many hours of decanting decides whether a port is mature? I know other factors also decide this, but decanting is a primary function of serving port and can be used as solid way of determining if additional cellaring is necessary.

I do not want to wait 24+ hours decanting and they would say that port is young. Some ports just have so much life, that maybe they'll never be "mature" like '67 Nacional.

My own line is if a port takes 12+ hours to taste like something, then it is not ready to drink. This goes beyond the personal preferences some have for softer stages of port, but to at least show a nose and have the initial heat disappear.

My personal view is that if you are faced with a monster port that needs a long time to sort itself out in a decanter then you can safely assume that it will also sort itself out in a more leisurely manner if it is tucked away in a cellar for another decade or few.

Intuitively, I feel that there must be some sort of connection between the "peak decanter time" drinking window for a port and its ability to cellar and improve for a number of years, but I do not have enough tasting evidence to be able to put together a theory.

AHB wrote:My personal view is that if you are faced with a monster port that needs a long time to sort itself out in a decanter then you can safely assume that it will also sort itself out in a more leisurely manner if it is tucked away in a cellar for another decade or few.

Intuitively, I feel that there must be some sort of connection between the "peak decanter time" drinking window for a port and its ability to cellar and improve for a number of years, but I do not have enough tasting evidence to be able to put together a theory.

Alex has beautifully summarised my understanding.

I think we agree on decanting time and cellaring time, at least on a basic level.