For The Love Of Port

We get a few odd questions and this one seems to come up every now and then.

We were told that paint on vintage bottles is kind of a historical ritual for storing the wine. They would start by leaving a drop of white paint at 12:00, then rotating it a quarter turn on the same day every year.

Unique, but effective? I'm not sure.

We see it on Quinta de Roriz. Anyone else see it on their bottles? Anyone else have a diff explanation?

Mark

As I understand it, the splash of white paint denotes the "top" of the bottle while it is being stored in the lodge prior to the label being attached. As a result the crust (sediment) will develop opposite the white paint and if moved the shipper will still be able to determine the "top" of the bottle.

Marc

Marc is spot on here. The paint is just to denote the "Up" position, so then when the bottle is moved it can be placed back in the same position. The 1/4 turn is a myth and doesn't happen.

Very few producers use paint anymore as it is very labor intensive and thus expensive. And in reality it doesn't really matter.

Agreed, it is a traditional marking that is still endearing to some, anachronistic to others. Personally, it makes little difference to me when storing my own bottles. It does look cool though in a Gaia lodge when looking at a few thousand bottles at a time with the splash marks all lined up neatly.

I have to count in as one of the camp that loves the paint splash. Sadly, few producers use it any more.. Even more sad is the fact that very few of the bottles I have in my own cellar own this mark. I might just take a can of white paint down there one day on my own...

Todd