Zinfandel Port

[Rob G]

As I indicated in my post in the Smoking Post, I tried Zinfandel Port for the first time yesterday. I am not crazy about wine, but figured I would give Port a shot. I enjoyed it. It smelled just like wine, but had a different taste. It was very good and went down very easily. I'm looking forward to trying it again.

[Mad Dawg]

Ports are a very different beast: wine, but not wine. Or rather, more than wine. White grape alcohol and sugar are components of what you're tasting.

Zinfandels have a characteristic (to me, anyway) "briary" essence, earthy and woody with a tannic thorniness when they're young. Done well, they're outstanding - try some of the old vineyard issues from Ridge and you'll see what I mean.

With the added dimensions you get in a port, they can be very good, but that must be tricky because you don't see a heck of a lot of them.

Which one did you try? Vintage?

[jazznut]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawg

White grape alcohol (bold emphasis mine) and sugar are components of what you're tasting.

Zinfandels have a characteristic (to me, anyway) "briary" essence, earthy and woody with a tannic thorniness when they're young. Done well, they're outstanding...

MD's description is spot-on, except that the alcohol component used for the fortified 'Port' wine is usually a brandy, often distilled from the same grapes used for the wine itself. Therefore, this spirit can, in fact, be made from red and/or white grapes.

What is a fortified wine (such as Madeira, Sherry, Port or any other 'Port'-like product - remember that only a fortified wine produced in the delineated Oporto region of Portugal can be legally, and simply, called Port)? It's a wine that, at a certain point during the fermentation process, has the above-mentioned brandy or spirit added. This additional alcohol boosts the alcohol content (naturally) but also, and more importantly, arrests the fermentation process, thereby leaving a residual (unfermented grape) sweetness in the wine.

The key to any good Port (or similar fortified 'Port'-like wine) is to strike a balance between fruity sweetness, tannic underpinning and alcohol. The Oporto region of Portugal is renowned for its long growing season and generally dry and hot (especially for Europe) climate. The grapes cultivated there are, consequently, ideal for producing fortified wines. (It's also worth noting that, for going on decades now, this region has developed a reputation for excellent table wines as well.)

Californian Zinfandel is, in many ways, the perfect North American counterpart to the grapes grown in Portugal's Oporto region. This grape variety ripens very well on the vine, possesses a good balance between fruity sweetness and tannins, and usually produces wines with relatively elevated alcohol levels. It's not uncommon to see Californian Zinfandel table wines in the 14-16% alcohol by volume level!

As MD has intimated, there are many different variations on Port (or 'Port'-like) wines. You'll therefore encounter labels ranging from Ruby (generally clarified wines made for immediate consumtion) through Late Bottled Vintage (usually moderately oak aged and ½-way between Ruby and Vintage in style - again made for immediate consumption) and Tawny (aged in oak anywhere from a few years to decades, thus more tawny in colour and leaning toward nutty, raisiny rather than berry fruit flavours) to true Vintage (minimally aged in oak and lightly - if at all - filtered so as to preserve flavour intensity... these are the fortified wines that can be capable of ageing in bottle for long periods of time).

Port, or any similar fortified wine, is not just about sweetness.

[Rob G]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawg

Which one did you try? Vintage?

It's called Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port. It's a small bottle. 375 ml, with 19% alcohol content.

[Rob G]

Jazznut, you should be writing a book on this stuff.

[gumby]

Praeger makes a good Zin port.

[Mad Dawg]

Originally Posted by gumby

Praeger makes a friggin' awesome Zin port.

Fixed. Tried one at the winery in Napa, has to have been 25+ years ago. Wow!

[grtrx]

Port in small bottles is not too unusual, and 19% makes sense with the added alcohol. Enjoy.

[jazznut]

http://terradorowinery.com/zinfandel-port.php

From the winery's website (link above):

"Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port spends its first few days in the cellar being treated very similar to the rest of our zins, but the finale of the fermentation is quite dramatic. The grapes are crushed, destemmed, and sent to stainless steel tanks to be inoculated and fermented. Billions of yeast dutifully convert sugar to alcoholfor energy all the while extracting ripe juicy fruit flavor as well as tannin and color from the grape solids...unaware of their impending doom. When the tank reaches a carefully chosen sugar level, we introduce hundreds of gallons of unagedgrape brandy. After fortification, the alcohol level is high enough to create an inhospitable environment for the billions of faithful yeast and they die. Despite the wines ingratitude, the yeast leave behind a wealth of residual sugar. The sweetness balances out the higher alcohol and leaves the port velvety smooth. The higher alcohol solution extracts even more flavor from the solids for a few more days and then is pressed and sent to a combination of French, American, and Hungarian oak. Using a traditional “solera” method of aging, the newest vintage is blended with high-quality brandy and several previous vintages to create this harmonious dessert wine."

Apparently (and interestingly enough), United States of America regulations continue to permit wines labelled as "PORT" to emanate from anywhere (i.e. not exclusively from the aforementioned, delineated region of Portugal) in the world (including, of course, the U.S.A.). In contrast, Canada (as of December 2013) agreed to drop the "PORT" and "SHERRY" designations for such types of wines produced in Canada in order to bring its own regulations in line with those of the European Union.

[Rob G]

Originally Posted by jazznut

http://terradorowinery.com/zinfandel-port.php

From the winery's website (link above):

"Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port spends its first few days in the cellar being treated very similar to the rest of our zins, but the finale of the fermentation is quite dramatic. The grapes are crushed, destemmed, and sent to stainless steel tanks to be inoculated and fermented. Billions of yeast dutifully convert sugar to alcoholfor energy all the while extracting ripe juicy fruit flavor as well as tannin and color from the grape solids...unaware of their impending doom. When the tank reaches a carefully chosen sugar level, we introduce hundreds of gallons of unagedgrape brandy. After fortification, the alcohol level is high enough to create an inhospitable environment for the billions of faithful yeast and they die. Despite the wines ingratitude, the yeast leave behind a wealth of residual sugar. The sweetness balances out the higher alcohol and leaves the port velvety smooth. The higher alcohol solution extracts even more flavor from the solids for a few more days and then is pressed and sent to a combination of French, American, and Hungarian oak. Using a traditional “solera” method of aging, the newest vintage is blended with high-quality brandy and several previous vintages to create this harmonious dessert wine."

Apparently (and interestingly enough), United States of America regulations continue to permit wines labelled as "PORT" to emanate from anywhere (i.e. not exclusively from the aforementioned, delineated region of Portugal) in the world (including, of course, the U.S.A.). In contrast, Canada (as of December 2013) agreed to drop the "PORT" and "SHERRY" designations for such types of wines produced in Canada in order to bring its own regulations in line with those of the European Union.

So am I drinking Port or not?