A port is closed when ...

[Luc Gauthier]

Is there a grape varietal that affects the dumb phase

[Frederick Blais]

Is there a grape varietal that affects the dumb phase

Difficult to say... it would require to bottle each varietal separately and taste every year to witness it.

But I doubt it has to do with varietals as some years like 1994 there seems to be almost no dumb phase while the 1980 lasted way longer than many other years.

[Luc Gauthier]

Merci Fred

[Andy Velebil]

Is there a grape varietal that affects the dumb phase

Difficult to say... it would require to bottle each varietal separately and taste every year to witness it.

But I doubt it has to do with varietals as some years like 1994 there seems to be almost no dumb phase while the 1980 lasted way longer than many other years.

1994 went an unusually long time with no dumb phase. Then they shut down hard about 6-7 or so years ago, and remained so for quite a while. They are still recovering from it. But mostly are showing excellent again.

No clue why they lasted so long before shutting down, but I’d be curious as to anyone’s thoughts about it.

[Moses Botbol]

Is there a grape varietal that affects the dumb phase

Difficult to say... it would require to bottle each varietal separately and taste every year to witness it.

But I doubt it has to do with varietals as some years like 1994 there seems to be almost no dumb phase while the 1980 lasted way longer than many other years.

1994 went an unusually long time with no dumb phase. Then they shut down hard about 6-7 or so years ago, and remained so for quite a while. They are still recovering from it. But mostly are showing excellent again.

No clue why they lasted so long before shutting down, but I’d be curious as to anyone’s thoughts about it.

Perhaps ports that are that monumental have a longer closed phase? How long was 1970 closed for before it turned around? Maybe someone here who was buying this port in the 70's can remember?

[Frederick Blais]

From what I can hear(because I was too young), Ports before 1985 where really difficult to drink in their youth compare to what they are now. They were green, harsh, bitter. Almost closed from day 1!

My intuition points me to the ripening season. If the berries gets ripe because of grotwh or because of stress. That would affect the tannins, the ratio pulp/skins and the way phenolics develop in the berries which are utimately part of the anti-oxydants required for the wine aging and development in the bottle. I say this, because I believe it is related to growing conditions. Why then, Ports from the same Vintage behave more in the same way than Ports from the same house in different Vintage.

I'm not Port winemaker, that would be a great question for the Port trade!