Filtering your port-is it porticide?

[walterp]

Hi all,
I would like to bring up a frequent question. What do most of you feel about using coffee filter paper instead of decanting your port? Do you think you lose anything by doing this? Does age of the port matter?

[Jay Woodruff]

While I can't say I have tried it, I do not really lik the idea of it.

It would certainly remove pretty fine sediment but what about imparting any taste? In an emergency perhaps, but otherwise would prefer a slow decant with perhaps a fine metal mesh strainer.
Hopefully someone has tried this and report back with more of a fact based opinion.

Jay.

[Frederick Blais]

I've tried that only once. It was 5 years ago i think with a Messias Vintage 1984. As you can see with the Vintage Port I was only beginning to learn the stuff. What happened is that the cork broke in many pieces into the bottle and I was in a hurry to go to a christmas reunion with the bottle. I took a coffee filter and decant the Port with it. I can't tell you if it alter the taste or remove some of the particules that can give you more, because that VP was pretty light because of the house.

It would be hard to test it, there is already big bottle variation, but I don't feel it is harmful for the Port. It more like screwcap, people don't like them because of the tradition and it doesn't look good to say that you decant your taylor 1970 with a coffee filter

[Roy Hersh]

While I have only once used a coffee filter out of desperation, I have seen it done by friends on several occasions.

I believe that the filter paper and the chemicals used to create the ultra whiteness of the paper, definitely impart aromas and flavors to the wine, if consumed quickly after this decanting method. No matter how you slice it, this has to be construed as a means to decant the Port for sediment.

I don't think it has the effects for the long haul as Vintage Port is hearty enough to progress further if left in decanter and the initial flavors won't be noticed. Either way, it is certainly not a recommended accouterment for the decanting process. If you must use a coffee filter due to lack of other options, make sure to rinse and dry the coffee filter in cold water 30-45 mins. prior to decanting. This will allow the chemicals to leech out prior to contact with the wine.

I have never met a finely meshed metal screen, whether designed for Port, or otherwise, that would capture enough sediment to make this a viable alternative either.

What does work is the "candling of Port", I almost never do this ... although did recently for a 1900 Taylor I "opened" for a group, but the bottle was brought to the tasting by my friend Mark (see this month's newsletter for the TN of the month).

My personal method of choice is to take a metal Port funnel and line it with a double layer of cotton cheese cloth. The combination of the cheese cloth and meshed metal screen will catch the vast majority of the sediment. Unless a really old VP, I normally rinse the bottle once pouring into decanter and then decant back from decanter to bottle through a rinsed and ratcheted dry, cheesecloth. I then just gently pour back into the decanter for it to open up now that just about all of the sediment has been removed. This is my process and I am sticking to it.

[Al B.]

What works for me is the "candling" approach, although I use a high power torch so that I don't have to worry about burning the hairs off the back of my hand.

I will decant as slowly as I can into a glass port funnel and into a decanter until the particles start to move into the neck of the bottle. At that point, I keep the bottle steady and move the decanter out of the way and stand the funnel in a tasting glass and line it with a double layer of jam-making muslin (the stuff you use to strain out the pips, stalks and lumps of fruit flesh when making a jelly). This is muslin that I have been using for years now and it is a deep, rich purple in colour. I then pour the rest of the contents of the bottle through the muslin into the tasting glass.

This works for me for a number of reasons:
* I don't worry about leaving too much in the bottle since I get to drink it all!
* I don't worry about getting sediment in the decanter since I can stop before the sediment moves.
* The muslin has been used for years so I can be confident that it doesn't take too much out of the port that goes through it now (after all, that colour must come from somewhere) or put any new flavours in
* If the muslin does taint the VP at all, it is only in that tasting glass and the rest of the decanter is "pure".

Overall, I would say that you should stick with whatever works for you and the people you share your VP with. While I am sure that I do not have a palate sensitive enough to pick up any taint that might come from using coffee filter paper, I am also sure that there are many people in the world who would be able to.

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

No, NO, NO!!!

Filtering through cellulose (paper filters) ADDS tannin to the wine, be it Porto or an aged dry red table wine. I've conducted hundreds of experiements on this at home and in/for the wine classes I teach.

It's simple, you just need a 750ml bottle of old _____________ that has thrown sediment, two identical carafes/decanters, and one white paper coffee filter.

1) Take the bottle and stand it up for several days.

2) Take one decanter and carefully pour the first half of the bottle directly in the carafe.

3) Take the second half of the bottle and decant it through the coffee filter into the other decanter.

4) Taste.

I've done this. I've had it done to me (blind).

You tell me what you think . . . .

Cheers,
Jason

[Frederick Blais]

Jason, what was there a big difference? was the bottle filtered with the coffee paper always tasting worst? I can understand that the paper could give tannins, but enough to be tasted?

I could give a second chance to some wine

I'll definitively try it in the next few month, I should receive a group of people this september, they are good taster, I'll do the test and come back to you.

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

Jason, what was there a big difference? was the bottle filtered with the coffee paper always tasting worst? I can understand that the paper could give tannins, but enough to be tasted?

Hard, harsh, astringent tannins!

(Less so if you rinse the paper filter thoroughly prior to using it.)

[Janet Ainsworth]

Okay, this may be unorthodox but...I use a double thickness of a good quality nylon stocking (yes, unused!!) cut to fit a funnel. The very fine denier traps all the sediment, but it is neither reactive nor absorbent of the port. I've always assumed that a coffee filter both added paper taste and deducted a bit of port.

[ryan opaz]

No, NO, NO!!!

Filtering through cellulose (paper filters) ADDS tannin to the wine, be it Porto or an aged dry red table wine. I've conducted hundreds of experiements on this at home and in/for the wine classes I teach.

It's simple, you just need a 750ml bottle of old _____________ that has thrown sediment, two identical carafes/decanters, and one white paper coffee filter.

1) Take the bottle and stand it up for several days.

2) Take one decanter and carefully pour the first half of the bottle directly in the carafe.

3) Take the second half of the bottle and decant it through the coffee filter into the other decanter.

4) Taste.

I've done this. I've had it done to me (blind).

You tell me what you think . . . .

Cheers,
Jason

Ok this just seems weird. First off the second half of the bottle, if old and with considerable sediment, will be more astringent, even if you pour without the filter. No filter is a hundred percent effective and even the coffee filter will let through some sediment, thus causing more astringency.

Second if the astringency was SO strong, how is it I can drink my coffee each morning with relative easy. Coffee is as acidic as wine, and even as it cools down I don't get tannin. You would think that the heat of the coffee would extract more tannin than a cool wine, from the filter.

I just can't buy it, though I do keep cheese cloth around so I don't have to find out. The one time I did use a filter, it was an unbleached "natural"(makes it sound like they grow on trees) filter on a California red. Can't remember what exactly. Though I don't remember any bad flavors because of it.

As far as VP I perfer the Candle method, though my candle is a magligh:idea:t. The smaller ones where you can take the top off and it looks like a candle. It works great because it can stand up by it'self, and the light is very strong!

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

Ok this just seems weird. First off the second half of the bottle, if old and with considerable sediment, will be more astringent, even if you pour without the filter. No filter is a hundred percent effective and even the coffee filter will let through some sediment, thus causing more astringency.

Hmmmm, THIS just seems weird to me! You stop pouring before any appreciable sediment gets into and/or through the filter. And were you to decant, let's say, 4/5 of the bottle into two carafes (300ml into one decater, 300ml into another), pouring directly from bottle to carafe and through no filtration medium (cheese cloth, paper filter, metal screen, etc) and successfully keeping ALL of the sediment in the remaining 150ml still within the bottle -- are you saying that one carafe will be more astringent than the other?

Second if the astringency was SO strong, how is it I can drink my coffee each morning with relative easy. Coffee is as acidic as wine, and even as it cools down I don't get tannin. You would think that the heat of the coffee would extract more tannin than a cool wine, from the filter.

Now THAT is a good point, though a) I usally make espresso in the morning, and thus no paper filter is used, and b) when I do brew coffee with a paper filter, I always rinse the paper in water first . . . I find it reduces the tannins. Same goes for those metalic "gold" filters.

I just can't buy it, though I do keep cheese cloth around so I don't have to find out. The one time I did use a filter, it was an unbleached "natural"(makes it sound like they grow on trees) filter on a California red. Can't remember what exactly. Though I don't remember any bad flavors because of it.

Cheese cloth is my fall-back option, if I haven't had a chance to let the bottle stand long enough.

As far as VP I perfer the Candle method, though my candle is a magligh:idea:t. The smaller ones where you can take the top off and it looks like a candle. It works great because it can stand up by it'self, and the light is very strong!

Agreed! My small Maglite works great -- better than a candle (but not as dramatic!).

Cheers,
Jason

[Otto Nieminen]

I once did an experiment for a tasting group. I took an 8 year old decent, but not excellent, Bordeaux red which hadn't yet thrown much of a sediment. I decanted half normally and half through the "natural" brown filter paper. I served the two decanters to the group double blind. No one noted any differences between the two. When I revealed what I had done and we went back to the glasses knowing what had happened, no one still could come up with any differences. I know this isn't a very scientific exploration, but it would seem that brown filter paper does not impart aroma. Of course one would be justified in saying that 8 yo Bx is a hardy wine and that an older, more delicate wine would not survive. But as Port is also hardy, I won't mind using filter paper for the relatively young ones.

[David Pope]

I always use brown (ie unbleached) filter papers for coffee. Can't these be use to filter wine without imparting chemicls? Would it really help to rinse them first - whether makng coffee or filtering wine?

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

Besides . . . why not use cheesecloth??? It's not like there's a world-wide shortage of the stuff; it's re-useable; and nothing needs recycling!

[Stuart Chatfield]

After reading this post I did an experiment with a bottle of Dow '66 last night. I tried a "filtered" glass and an unfiltered one side-by-side and could tell no difference.

I did use a pre-washed (boiled water for maximum extraction followed by cold to cool it down) unbleached filter, though. I don't think I would do it with an unwashed bleached one.

I use this technique on rare occasions when there is a hurry. However, when a similar question was asked at a Wine Society tasting I went to a couple of years ago, Paul Symington said something like "don't be so weedy - just pour it into the glass and suck it through your teeth".

[nicos neocleous]

Hi all,
I would like to bring up a frequent question. What do most of you feel about using coffee filter paper instead of decanting your port?

I also use cheesecloth and a funnel. It works well for me.

One day, I might try using women's stockings (new and used), and see if I can tell the difference in taste...

[Tom Archer]

I personally decant by eye, letting the bottle stand unmoved for a day, and then removing the cork very carefully to avoid disturbance. I don't find a candle necessary when decanting.

As soon as the first particles appear I transfer from decanter to a glass, and pour a small shot to taste. The rest then goes in the cooking.

I use a funnel and mesh in case I miss a lump of sediment, just in case.

This works for me, but...

Each year on my birthday I throw a party at a local restaurant for my friends, where we consume six bottles (usually six vintages from six different shippers)

The restaurant owner is firmly in the coffee filter (unbleached) camp.

Despite my reservations, he has been able to convince me that you really cannot tell the difference.

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

Would it really help to rinse them first - whether makng coffee or filtering wine?

Yes.

[Roy Hersh]

Along with one topic requested on Port Tongs, this was also mentioned by one of our new FTLOPers. Hopefully, he will add his emailed question to me. The answers were touch on in this particular thread.

Others can feel free to add their two cents as this is an oldie but goodie that may pre-date many of our newer members.

[Richard Henderson]

I will add that I import coffee from Costa Rica and so I took a particular interest in brewing and brewers.

Gold mesh coffee filters are superior to any paper filters because as coffee is a suspension, you want the finer sediments to get through. Jason is right, paper coffee filters add harsh flavors to wine and I would add , coffee.

Other things such as chlorine in water can change coffee flavors for the worse, but that is getting off topic.

With port , you don't want the big chunks to get through but you want the finer sediments that get through the fine wire mesh as Roy suggests because that is much of your flavor.

I would never use paper coffee filters for port under any circumstances.