I thought I'd ask what views ers have about this. I don't mean that I disagree with Rob, rather I wonder what guidelines people generally follow, and what I might usefully do also. How long would you leave a bottle, after shipping, before you stand it and drink it? Is there a difference, in your opinions, between shipping from storage to shipping from a supplier? I wonder what the differences would be between that and bringing a double-decanted bottle to a tasting?
What, in short, does all this movement do to the port? Doesn't standing the bottle (for up to a day) allow the sediment to stabilise and fall? Or are there other effects besides, flavour compounds which are inhibited or some such?
Daniel J.
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
For me, there are so many variables to whether a bottle of port from my cellar will show well that i'd rather eliminate the possibility of travel sickness since it is fully within my own control.
But i don't think there's a universal law. At a guess, young port is possibly better at travelling than old port. Port with fine sediment is possibly worse at travelling than port with large flakey sediment. Yet Axel has shipped me old bottles from Germany that have showed really well when opened within two weeks. Bottles have been purchased retail from BBR on the day of a tasting and opened without decant yet shown fantastically. But while a lot of it is pot luck as far as i can see, i have a gut feeling (based on my not particularly well recorded experience) that i have more of that luck with bottles that have had plenty of time to settle. The Leverkeusen tasting of 1980 ports last year was the particular tasting that convinced me of this (all ports stored within a short drive of location for at least 3 months prior to tasting and stood for a full month).
If i were faced with a choice of double decanting 12 hours earlier than would be ideal vs transporting undecanted and then decanting at the correct time, i'd probably decant early every time (though i'd be much more confident of travelling with tawny/colheita)
One thing i know: it must be a nightmare being a port shipper and praying that your fragile wines show well for an important marketing event shortly following shipment....!
I've had mixed experience with this but have seen quite a few bottles that have almost certainly been shocked by travelling shortly before being opened. Old Colheita seems to particularly at risk of this, possibly due to the very fine sediment which takes a long time to clear after being shaken up. Whenever I organise large tastings of older wines I always try to gather the wines in one place a few weeks before the event to allow them to settle. I agree with Rob that it is within our control to eliminate (or significantly reduce) this risk so why not do so.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
I prefer a minimum of 2 weeks between shipping and opening, but 4-6 weeks is certainly better.
In my experience tawnies seem to be more resistant to travel shock than rubies, with the already noted exception of very old tawnies that have thrown that exceptionally fine sediment. Once you disturb that stuff, you need at least a month for it to settle out again.
ers have about this. I don't mean that I disagree with Rob, rather I wonder what guidelines people generally follow, and what I might usefully do also. How long would you leave a bottle, after shipping, before you stand it and drink it? Is there a difference, in your opinions, between shipping from storage to shipping from a supplier? I wonder what the differences would be between that and bringing a double-decanted bottle to a tasting?
