FAQ: How long can Port last once opened?

[Roy Hersh]

A bottle of Port is just about never around longer than one day once opened, but I realize I'm probably not the typical Port drinker. I get so many emails asking me about increasing the shelf life of various Port and what is the best method of preservation.

To this, I have one simple answer and then some detailed ones to follow:
Once a bottle of Port is open, recork it and refrigerate immediately after pouring a glass or two or three or... well, you get the picture!

Seriously, Vintage Port does not taste the same once it has oxidized and for my palate, 48 hours is the longest you should leave a mature Vintage Port open, even if refrigerated which can probably extend the life for one day. My strong suggestion is that if you don't think you will drink it within a maximum of 2-3 days, and I am talking about a 1978 or older VP, then don't open it. If it is between 1980 and 1994, then you might have 3-4 days if kept in the refrigerator once opened. Anything younger and you can probably have a week or so, but why push the envelope.

Wood-aged Port normally can handle two to three weeks depending on what it is. For example, I have found that young "unfiltered" LBVs (Late Bottled Vintage Port) last longer than ones that are filtered.

10, 20, 30, and 40 year Tawnies are best consumed closest to the date of bottling on the label. Here I am talking about the bottle's shelf life and not "once open." Even these "Tawny Ports with an indication of age"
can differ. I find that the younger ones do have better staying power (ok, wiseguys...no jokes!) and will hold up in bottle for up to an extra week without noticeable deterioration. Overall, the wines from this category if kept recorked and in the fridge, will last for 3 or 4 weeks without too much noticeable oxidative deterioration in flavors, although the nose does get dumber with the more time the wine sits with air in the bottle.

NO!!! that Vacuvin is no more effective than a placebo pill for Alzheimer's disease! Do not get fooled by thinking it removes the oxygen. This is nonsense, regardless of that little pfffttt sound you hear when removing the rubber stopper. :twisted:

Colheita Ports OTOH, even though they are wood-aged for a minimum of 7 years (and frequently 8 - 150 years between cask and demijohn)s, do deteriorate once open. I would adhere to the specifics for Vintage Port for these.

The only wine that really has no problem lasting literally for years once opened, is Madeira...but that is another story.

It is my recommendation, that when you open a 750 ml bottle and realize that you will not have more than a couple of glasses. Immediately pour the balance (remove the sediment FIRST) into a 375 ml bottle and fill it to the top. Then use one of those rubber stoppers mentioned above (glad they DO have some use) and then refrigerate. This will keep your wines in the ultimate best condition once open, until you are ready to consume using the guidelines above.

LBVs are the "hot" Port in the USA these days. Especially in restaurants where they normally can not sell vintage Ports by the glass fast enough before the bottles go bad. LBV is the perfect Port to buy in a restaurant, although Tawny Port is usually pretty safe too.

You will at least know you are not drinking something that has gone way past its shelf life, like a VP usually will when sold by the glass by uninformed restaurants. Most bartenders, servers and even restaurant managers will lie and say, "funny, we just opened that bottle earlier this evening." Yeah right!

[Doug Zdanivsky]

Boy, do I agree about the bottle not being around for more than one day!

That first Port I had I stretched 3 days because I was experimenting with the effects of extended decanting..

But if I weren't, it would have been gone after the second, and only because it took 10 hours to get drinkable.. Yummy!

And imagine if I had to SHARE!!!

[Al B.]

OK Roy. I was beaten to the contrarian view on the question of decanting times (and anyway, I agree with you) but I can't resist offering a contrarian view on this one.

As you know, I'm a fan of 375 bottles. The reason for this is that I will generally drink 1-3 50ml pours of wine in a night. If my wife is also drinking, she will have 1 glass of a similar size. The math tells you that on this basis a half bottle will last us 2 days and a full bottle 4. Its rare that we drink on 4 successive week nights so a bottle opened and decanted on Monday has a good chance of being finished on Friday.

Over that time, my experience and palate tells me that I will probably like the wine best on nights 2 and 3 (usually 24 and 48 hours after decanting). The wine is enjoyable, but not as good to my taste, on the first and fourth evenings. By the fifth evening it is usually starting to fall apart and will have become slightly unbalanced and overly alcoholic to be perfect for my palate. A typical wine for us to drink would be a second tier port (eg. Dow, Warre) from 83 or 85.

Note that I don't refrigerate. All I do is stand the decanter in a cool and dark room since I'm too lazy to faff around with pouring back into the bottle, rubber stoppers and fridges. I just decant and pour.

So there you go. I agree with extended decanting - but are you sure that 12 hours is long enough for something as young as an 85 - but don't agree that vintage port can't last for a week.

Its also quite fascinating to watch the way a port evolves over such a time. Its incredible that even after 5 days in a decanter, a vintage port still evolves in the glass over a couple of hours.

Don't you just love the variety built into people? What one person loves, another will hate.

Alex

[Frederick Blais]

Alex, of course the VP is still drinkable after 5 days. But I join Roy on this, for my taste, after 24h, a mature VP does not give the same pleasure it was the night before.

Just for the fun, when I visited some family last week, they served me the same Tawny 20 years old they did last year. And last year it was already 1 year old. So after 2 years in the decanter and a big crust in it, that tawny was still drinkable, but not much fun drinking it.

[Stuart Chatfield]

Over that time, my experience and palate tells me that I will probably like the wine best on nights 2 and 3 (usually 24 and 48 hours after decanting). The wine is enjoyable, but not as good to my taste, on the first and fourth evenings. By the fifth evening it is usually starting to fall apart and will have become slightly unbalanced and overly alcoholic to be perfect for my palate. A typical wine for us to drink would be a second tier port (eg. Dow, Warre) from 83 or 85.
Alex

I agree with Alex. I tend to open a bottle and immediately pour it gently into two halves. One of these (bottle 1) I fill up so that when stoppered there is only 1/4 inch or less from the stopper to the top of the port and I put it straight in the fridge.

I then either drink the not-quite-full one (bottle 2) on day one and then bottle 1 the following day or about two-thirds of bottle 2 on day one, a mix of a third of each on day two and the remaining 2/3 of bottle one on day three (come on, keep up).

Anyway - if I use the three-day technique it is definitely better on day 2 than day one. However, if I have taken a third from bottle 1 on day 2, by day 3 it starts to decline as clearly there is about 125ml of air acting on 24-hour old port for another day.

And finally, if I do use the "bottle 1" technique, how can this possibly "go off" quicker than keeping some at room temp in a decanter for a few hours, which is what we all do when we have a whole bottle? It is exposed to the air for just a few seconds, kept in a bottle with almost zero oxygen at almost freezing temp. I've occasionally (when my plans changed) after day 1 kept halves of 70s for days like this with no ill-effects. (But only when I haven't touched the half and left it right up to the stopper at fridge temp.) However, when you get back to 60s you can just start to tell after a day.

And yes, its great that we can disagree and have variety without a fight! If the UK Govt. get their way tonight on 24 hour drinking you US people can come over for the next UK tasting and watch from a distance what happens on our streets at night time when drinkers disagree, but do fight! It is quite a spectacle.

[Al B.]

I've just sacrificed my tastebuds in the interest of science and experimentation. See my tasting note on the rest of the half of Berry Brothers '97 - drunk 6 days after opening and shaken almost constantly during those 6 days.

This wine was better on day 6 than on day 1!! (To my palate and memory.) :)

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Alex you are staring to scare me. Sitting there for six days, shaking your Port? My dear man, what are you thinking?

Get out and catch some fresh air!

[Al B.]

[Derek T.]

Can someone please explain to me how it is possible to make a bottle of port last for more than 48 hours? Perhaps I should start buying Magnums :?

I'd also like to know how it is that Roy has any 375cl bottles to put in the fridge - I thought these bottles were the work of the Devil, Roy? :twisted:

Here is a question for those who say you shouldn't drink VP more than 48 hours after opening. What would you rather have, a glass of Fonseca 66 that had been opened for 4 days or a glass of Warre's LBV 94 opened for 12 hours?

[Al B.]

Now, for me, that is an easy question to answer.

Give me the Fonseca '66 that has been open for 4 days every time.

Just tell me where I need to go and I will bring my glass with me

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Derek,

I never said that the 375s were Port bottles, did I? 8)


I'd rather drink the '94 LBV with 12 hours on it. Freshness to me, is a key quality that four days in bottle (after opening) can destroy or at best show enough deterioration, that it brings down the fruit level as well as the acidity as the wine oxygenates.

[Al B.]

And Roy's reply is why I love this forum.

No-one is wrong, everyone is different - although I accept that my taste may be unusual (some may say wierd) I can honestly say that I would thoroughly enjoy the Fonseca 66 after 4 days, more so than the fresh LBV.

I just love those nutty, coffee flavours that dominate a port that has been open to the air for an extended time.

Am I wrong? No.

Is Roy wrong? No.

Are we different? Oh gosh yes!


Alex

[Derek T.]

Roy, on taste alone I agree with your choice. On total experience (including wow factor!) I agree with Alex.

Alex, you win a prize for being the first person to use the word gosh on this forum 8)

PS: I'm stuck in a hotel in the middle of nowhere with no port for miles around - help!!!

[Al B.]

Derek,

Our ability to help depends on where in the world you are.

If nothing else, there is a lesson to be learnt - which I learnt from Roy's two month stint away from home without a bottle of port. Have a stock of halves and always keep one in your overnight bag with a Riedel port glass! :)

And "gosh" was going to be a different expletive, but I decided to be polite in the forum so "gosh" is what the word turned into.

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Derek,

Stop complaining man. I am sure you have Jo there to keep you from being too lonely.

[Derek T.]

Roy,

Unfortunately not - I was in a Hotel [alone] in the middle of an industrial area, no signs of life for miles around, reading about port at 2am and started to crave some port but couldn't have any - not a good feeling as you know

Will maybe follow Alex advice and make sure I hace a half bottle stashed away in the case next time just in case 8)

Derek

[Roy Hersh]

A reader of the newsletter asked this question and I thought it would be appropriate to share this thread.

I don't know if there is anything new to add, but maybe it will spark a conversation with some of the newer FTLOP members.

[Michael Ferrier]

I remember Bruce Guimaraens being asked this question at a tasting of his ports and replying that he hadn't a clue - he had never had one open longer than two hours.