Newby VP Best suggestions

[Dick M]

Hi, I'm a NEWBY to FTLOP, I've drank regular bottles of Port for a few years now, but I've been given a bottle of Deltaforce 94 for Christmas. At first I thought it may have been corked as the cork crumbled and has taken on the colour of the port ! Firstly it seems that this may NOT be the case as I've read there is sometimes a bit of skill involved in removal of the cork in one piece ?
Secondly, what is the best course of action to remove particles of cork left in the bottle with-out decanting, as I won't be drinking this with-in the first few weeks, (I use a cork stopper in the bottle)
Helpful tips greatly accepted

[Derek T.]

Dick,

Welcome to

If you are planning to drink this bottle over a prolonged period of time I would strongly recommend keeping it in the fridge. Vintage Port evolves quite quickly once opened and it will start to lose freshness after three or four days. Refrigeration slows this process considerably so your bottle could stay fresh for a couple of weeks if kept very cold.

As for the crumbs, I would suggest using a small mesh filter (a tea strainer or similar) when you pour each glass. I don't think you will get the crumbs out of the bottle without removing the Port so you will have to catch them each time you pour.

Enjoy your bottle

Derek

[Bradley Bogdan]

Welcome! Totally agree with Derek about the fridge, younger VP stays fresh longer when open, but at best it's over days and not weeks without some cold or inert gas to slow down oxidation.

Second, you can also use cheesecloth to strain out the bits when pouring. You won't be able to fish them out of the bottle, but that shouldn't be detrimental to the wine unless the cork was pretty moldy or dirty to begin with.

Finally, a waiters style corkscrew can break or strip the middle from older corks, so slow, steady and directly up are the names of the game. You could also use an Ah-So, the two pronged corkscrew, but must be careful not to just drive the cork into the wine. If you don't mind spending some money, a Durand corkscrew, which combines the two, gets rave reviews. If you want some real adventure though, use port tongs and skip the cork entirely!

[Andy Velebil]

Dirk
to the Forum.

Others have given sound advice. I would suggest, if you're not going to drink this within a few days, you decant it off into two or more smaller sealed containers, such as old 375ml bottles that you can fill up and stopper. Then place in the fridge to slow the oxidation down.

You can use a mesh filter to strain when filling into the aforementioned smaller containers.

Also, it will have a decent amount of sediment in it. so you'll want to decant that off as well.

[Moses Botbol]

Weeks sound too long for this vintage to be open. Any chance you can drink this at the one week mark? '94 Delaforce is a tasty vintage; the last time I tried was about 4 years ago and it was an early drinker for the vintage. Enjoy.

[Roy Hersh]

What Derek and Andy said. Great advice for Dick. Others may disagree, but I like cheesecloth for decanting in addition to the metal mesh filters which I find allow too much sediment to pass. Some feel there is some flavor passed by the cheesecloth, but the best chefs in the world use it for a reason and they would never have subtle nuances passing into their delicate sauces, soups and stocks when utilizing the likes of a bouquet garni etc. Anyway, this is not about the efficacy of cheesecloth and I hope that in the future, Dick M's Port experience nd enjoyment will be greatly improved by the advice of the people who've responded in this thread.

[Derek T.]

I like cheesecloth for decanting in addition to the metal mesh filters which I find allow too much sediment to pass.

Roy,

Have you tried the Screwpull WA-108 filter/funnel? I've had one for years and it is great. The mesh is extremely fine but the best bit is that the filter lifts out of the funnel and sits snugly in the top of a Port glass allowing you to do exactly the sort of thing being discussed in this thread. They are still widely available in the UK but seem to be scarce in the US as they have been discontinued. Get one while you can!

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks Derek, I'll look into purchasing one, however, I have a boat load of cheesecloth to use up in the meantime.