vintage port maturation
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:40 am
Does anyone know if anyone uses small or new oak casks in the maturation of vintage port?
Dilek,
Only in experiments, with Vintage Port. Otherwise, instead of these small pipes (550-600 liters) Vintage Port typically ages for 18-30 months in very large neutral oak vessels that can hold 10,000-a few hundred thousand liters. The less direct surface area contact with the wood, the better, and these large vessels do the trick. These massive wood vats are called either toneis or balseiros, depending on whether they are laying down on their side or standing up (respectively).
Welcome to FTLOP and it would be great to have you do an informal introduction in the first thread in this Port Basics part of our Forum. Either way, I hope this helps!