For The Love Of Port

I am unable to fully comprehend what is meant by stylistic certification for example, a madeira labelled Velho is a madeira in conformity with the standard of 5 years old Does this mean that none of the wines in the blend may actually be 5 years old but that the organoleptic qualities as determined ...

So the bottom line is that the statement "all ports have to be aged a minimum of years" is incorrect as a generic fact??

This means that the overall generic minimum ageing duration for PORT WINES are not SPECIFICALLY STATED by IDVP or have I missed something here (I did not spot it in the translated norms) Neither is the duration of ageing for Ruby Reserve ort specifically mentioned, so the 5 year figure is based on m...

I came across a Douro glossary site on the web that actually mentioned PIPAS (AROUND 600 LITER CAPACITY) AND PIPOS (AS AROUND 300 LITER CAPACITY) as two different sizes of port pipe barrels. Never read much about Pipos though??!

Are these pipes (barrels) used or new and are they lightly or heavily charred ?

Are tonels and the balseiro vats actually (ever) charred from within?

Sorry I missed Reserve as I was reading through with Google Translate....
As regards, LBV that labelling would apply only IF it is minimum 3 years bottled aged!
Entry level standard tawny and Ruby are not defined
Thanks Eric

I understand that port MUST be aged for a minimum of 2 years (right, na?) From what I am reading at this site an other 'authoritative' sites on Port wine. Can you verify these conclusions - apart from special category ports like LBV, Vintage etc) labels such as Reserve, Fine etc are NOT DEFINED by I...

Thank you Glen

Thank you Eric

In case the port is not destined to be one from a single year, it would have to be a blended style I assume vintage style ports allows for grape blending of same years harvest). Is such grape blending done before crushing (co-fermented) or after fermentation, or after some ageing, or after wood agei...

In blended Scotches, a 10 year old scotch would be understood as the youngest age of scotch used in the blend When a Tawny is 30 or 20 years old, is that a stylized age statement? or are all the wines blended in minimum 10 years old or is it an average age of 10 years and if so how is the same calcu...

I understand what an LBV and it sounds like a wood aged port to me but I have heard that some are bottled unfiltered and left in bottle for some years, so does that make it a glass aged port (too?)

What is the best resource a and most authentic resource on the net for PORT?

[quote="Eric Ifune"]I'll try to help as best I can. I can't claim to be an expert in all this. Thank you Eric Ifune very much may I verify two last issues Do you mean to say that even the relatively inexpensive 3 year old Madeiras and 5 year old Madeira that are estufagem processed are gen...

I'm not a Maderia person, so I don't know these off the top of my head. Were they Port questions, I would know some and then I would go consult the IVDP regulations. Which leads me to this answer, the Madeira equivalent: http://www.vinhomadeira.pt/regulation-157.aspx Is the english version availabl...

I am a student of Beverage Studies and my topic is Fortified Wines of Portugal I have found contrasting and archaic information on the web Please help me to iron out a few queries, no matter how stupid they are 1) Why does "3 years" NOT feature on a Madeira label like 5 years and 10 years ...