There is a new White Port on the market, well maybe not in your country yet ... but it is out there now.
Quinta da Prelada, a little known name beyond the borders of Portugal, has released ORANGE, a new White Port with a pumpkin orange label and the Port itself heads in a slightly darker shade. Have no fear, this will not become its own category.
The story is that Rui Magalhães from Prelada did a batch of white wine based on Arinto (variation of Boal) along with 15% Moscatel Galego. The remains of the mash he turned into white port which he stored in a old pippa that had been used for LBV / VP years ago.
The white port during its time in the pippa took on colour from the wood and now has a unique orange-esk colour.
The Danish import of Prelada has offered this wine for at least 8 months and I have tried it a couple of times. It is sold at 3 bottles for 60 USD and he only has 80 bottles left. Rui does not have any more and wont be making it again.
It was fun to try but I wasn't blown away or anything. But a nice appetizer served chilled on a summer day with nice exotic flavours.
Let me know if you want me to purchase a few for you.. general offer for any FTLOP'er.
Eric Ifune wrote:Was hoping this was a skin contact white. Now THAT would be interesting.
All white Port have skin contact to my knowledge. Than you can oxydize them a bit more to get more colour out of it too.
If you are looking for skin contact white table wine, only 2 that I know of have been commercially released. Quinta da Costa de Pinhao and Alves de Sousa reserva pessoal. Other wineries have tried or made too small quantities to release it. One of the best I've tried was from 2008, an intern from South Africa at Niepoort did one. Tasted it last year and it is beautiful!
Living the dream and now working for a Port company
I imagine you'd have to ferment white port grapes a la méthode champenoise but when bottling only fill the bottles to around 90% full. Then provoke the second fermentation, freeze, riddle out the sediment and then top up with aguadente to fortify the wine before sealing it.
It won't be easy to make it sweet if you are going for natural carbonation. If you accept forced carbonation, then it is pretty trivial.
Assuming forced carbonation is off limits, this would be a dry fizz. Judging by the sickly sweet unfortified fizz on the market, dry would probably be the better route to follow..