For The Love Of Port

Can anyone point to an English list of the age designations for tawny port and their legal meanings?

As I understand it, the age where shown is the average age of the constituent wines, as (unlike a Colheita) the wine as sold is a blend of various vintages, blended to produce a wine that matches the established house style.

There are designations of 10, 20 and 30 years (I think these can also be labelled as Velho - "old"). There is also 40 years, which can be labelled as Muito Velho ("very old").

But is there a further category of muito velho called "mais de 40 anos" (more than 40 years), or are all 40 year tawnies actually "mais de 40"?

I presume there must be legal definitions of 10, 20, 30 and 40(+) year tawny ports, presumably policed by the IDVP. Are these summarised anywhere in English, or can anyone provide a brief summary?

The most I could find was in a previous newsletter from Roy.

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/newslet ... letter.htm

Thanks - that explains the "40 year" and "more than 40 year" business
(USA rules don't permit "more than 40 years").

Sadly, Mario's translation to English was limited to my newsletter scribing. It should be published on the IVDP site and elsewhere but at least there is a place for the proper designations and nomenclature to be read in English. It is amazing how much incorrect information is used when it comes to the "Special Categories" of Port!