For The Love Of Port

Port is the last topic on the page:

http://wines.com/sweet-wines.html

they also have a Port sub-section on their forum:
http://wines.com/wineboard/forum-30.html

Their overview on Port is freaking horrible. I mean who the heck would want to try Port after reading those primers on different types of Port. I know I wouldn't. Someone needs to tell them their choice of editing is horrible...and has a lot of totally incorrect information as well.

+1 on what Andy said.

Another +1 to Andy from me. Some of the information they give is completely wrong (Colheitas must be aged for 20 years??? Uh... no, it's 7 years... 20 is Madeira...) and some of it is misleading if not entirely wrong (most port is made from 5 grapes).

+2

Glenn E. wrote:Another +1 to Andy from me. Some of the information they give is completely wrong (Colheitas must be aged for 20 years??? Uh... no, it's 7 years... 20 is Madeira...) and some of it is misleading if not entirely wrong (most port is made from 5 grapes).

Madeira has to be aged for 20 years? or do you mean Colheita Madeira? is that a thing?

Frasqueira Madeira must be wood aged for at least 20 years. This is what we call Vintage Maderia, although they can't use the term since the Port industry has copyrighted the term Vintage. Colheita Madeira is a wood aged Maderia of at least 7 years.

Can a canuck say +3

Luc Gauthier wrote:Can a canuck say +3

Just this once lol


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Luc Gauthier wrote:Can a canuck say +3

that's worth +1.32, i think. so plus the other 2...

what do you guys do when you see things like this? write to the website? or just grit your teeth and close the window?

In this case, considering their "port forum" has few recent entries and seems dead/dying, I would just grit teeth and close. If someone were piqued, it wouldn't take much for them to find FTLOP of TPF where real info lies.

Scheiny S wrote:

Luc Gauthier wrote:Can a canuck say +3

that's worth +1.32, i think. so plus the other 2...

what do you guys do when you see things like this? write to the website? or just grit your teeth and close the window?

The later. Not much you can do and good luck getting an author to fix a short story.


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This thread has gone back and forth between Port and Madeira. There was an interesting topic raised that I'd like to expand on ...

Eric I. wrote:

Frasqueira Madeira must be wood aged for at least 20 years. This is what we call Vintage Maderia, although they can't use the term since the Port industry has copyrighted the term Vintage. Colheita Madeira is a wood aged Maderia of at least 7 years.

A quick aside, Colheita Madeira unlike Colheita Port (the latter of which requires 7 years in wood) but with Madeira, Colheita rules have required a minimum of six years in neutral cask, since the category was created in the early-mid-1990s. In the new regulations passed in 2015, that was changed to where Colheita Madeira now must be aged for a minimum of 5 years in wood prior to being bottled. Additionally, it MUST be 100% of the wine from one single grape variety.

What is cool about this category of Madeira, which is unlike that of Port ... a Colheita Madeira can become a frasqueira (Vintage) Madeira, if allowed to remain in cask for a total of 20 years. However, it is my belief that this category has been one of the main reasons that Madeira producers are able to thrive in today's economy. Instead of tying up so much money in aging wines for a minimum of 20 (or more) years, they can now bottle after at least 5 years in wood as a Colheita and have a means to sell bottles, while relatively young to aid their cash flow situation. This was huge, but not a reason given officially for the creation of the category.

Another benefit, but this one providing the advantage to consumers: Instead of having to wait the 20 years to then buy and try an expensive frasqueira, you can buy the young Colheita at a fraction of the cost and determine if you want to wait and buy these wines with more wood age, at a much higher price, down the road when its category is upgraded. So having this distinct opportunity to guage the quality of the youngsters and especially whether or not we like the character of said Madeira, is a great dynamic for collectors and enthusiasts alike.

What is a lot of fun, is to taste a couple of releases of Colheita Madeira with different amounts of wood aging vs. the more recent release of the same wine later released as frasqueira. This doesn't happen often, as the category is still so young. However, it is a fantastic experience and extremely educational for training one's palate. As an example to help explain what I mean: is tasting a 1995 Colheita bottled in 2003 and again in 2009 (to meet market demand), up against the same wine later bottled as a Frasqueira in 2015. The progression can be determined by a person with some Madeira experience or at the very least, in possession of a discriminating palate.