August Virtual Tasting : Get something different

[Glenn E.]

2004 Messina Hof Tawny Texas port

This comes from a winery in Bryan, Texas, which is near where my brother used to live. They discovered the winery, liked the wines, and so tried the port as well. Messina Hof's Tawny is made from the Lenoir grape, which is exceptionally sweet and fruity. Brix at harvest is 30º to 32º which allows them to make these wines without the addition of brandy and still end up with 8%-9% residual sugar. Their alcohol content is a bit low - typically 18.5% to 19%. It's certainly different than Port, but it is also tasty in its own right. I opened the bottle last night (about 16 hours ago) and had a glass then, plus I'm having another now.

The color is somewhat redder than you would expect from a real Port, but it is still a tawny and not a ruby. It fades through orange to pink to almost yellow right at the rim. The center is more magenta than mahogany.

The nose has more grape in it than normal as well as some stewed tomatoes. As it turns out, the stewed tomatoes are not an indication of heat damage - they're just a normal part of this port's profile. There is also a savory characteristic that I can't quite identify... a nut of some kind, possibly almond. Currently (+16 after decanting) there is noticeable alcohol that wasn't present upon decanting.

The wine is sweet and nearly perfectly balanced in consistency. It is silky smooth with great surface tension, but is not syrupy. There is a lot of grape flavor remaining. We often refer to Port as "juice" but in this example you can still taste it. There's a sense of rich Mexican vanilla present in the mouth which disappears in the mid palate, but then reappears in a flash to start the finish. There's also a rich honeydew melon backdrop to the grapes. The alcohol is almost imperceptible and there's very little heat.

The only tannins that I notice show up in the finish and (as usual) remind me of grape skin. Notes of melon and honey come and go. The finish is fairly short and simple.

This is really more of a dessert wine than a port, but in many ways I find that to be a good thing. Tawny Ports can be harsh, especially younger ones. To me they're frequently warm as well, and the alcohol in them can be prominent. This wine has only been aged for 2 years (1 year each in new French and new American oak) yet it is smoother than many 20-yr old Tawny Ports. It is also sweeter and feels more juicy in the mouth.