Pink Port launched to mixed reaction - [www.harpers.co.uk]

[guilherme]

R

In marketing terms our interest is to produce a new style of Port that will attract new consumers, many of whom might be women. We are also looking to de-seasonalise Port as consumption in many markets is more focussed around Christmas. Efforts with Aged Tawny to de-seasonalise have worked but we can always do more.
6th Feb 2008

Adrian,

Could You explain why it seens tha TFP does not invest in Douros (non fortified) and goes to this sort of wine? A light ruby to IVDP, with a trade name of "Pink Port" for You ? Whith all due respect and the great admiration for Taylor's and Fonseca's, for You and David Guimaraens, I cannot understand this. Could You send some samples to Brazil for us to taste to check it out , as soon as possibel via Manuel Garcia ? Are You planning to sell it in Brazil too ?

Guilherme

[guilherme]

A

Think PINK ... drink PINK ...

ROY, Sogrape already used those slogans a few years ago when they launched the remake of Mateus Rosé. This fellow, Mateus, a true pink. Born around the Douro if I'm not wrong.

How do the winemakers get the "light ruby" ?

Guilherme

[Roy Hersh]

Guilherme,

With all of your Port knowledge, I always wonder why you don't spend more time here as you love the topic and enjoy posting. You probably could add a lot here, so please think of coming back more often to participate.

To make a wine like the Pink Port, the winemaker leaves the skins intact with the juice for a very short while and the color bleeds in rather than gaining full extraction, if the skins were left for a much longer period of time. That is realy the major difference.

I did not know about Mateus and have never even stopped off at their castle on the way to the Douro. So the fact that they used that line is only a minor surprise. While working in a wine shop in my late teenage years, Mateus and Lancers were two of the real hot brands at the time.

Back to Pink Port though. I will wait to taste it before passing judgement.

I hope to see you around more often!

[JacobH]

I had a look for a bottle of this in a (small but incredibly busy) M&S this evening but without any success.

What surprised me about their wine selection, though, was that a good quarter was solely given over to rosé of varying sorts for Valentine's day. I had no idea that such a market existed and having seen that, this move seems to make much more sense.

Has anyone seen this Port for sale? As someone with quite a lot of respect for Taylor's and a willingness to drink anything once, I would be prepared to put up £7.99 to see what this is like!

-Jacob

[*podvodnic]

Although it doesn't sound very appealing to me I can understand how it might introduce more people, especially women, to port. A lot of women I know start out with white wine, including zins, but once their palette evolves they move on to the fuller red wines. Maybe this is a product that will enable them to do the same with ports. Women that don't like red wines tend to shy away from port and a lot of it might be based on color and perception alone. If you provide them with something they can relate to more, and that looks more like the white zins they drink they might be willing to give it a try.

[Roy Hersh]

Shannon,

It took a woman to "nail" the exact intent of PINK PORT.

Even a guy named Robert Zimmerman wrote a song called TANGLED UP IN BLUE, that quipped:

"I started out on Burgundy and soon hit the harder stuff."

[Derek T.]

The bottle I opened last week has remained in the fridge for 7 days. When I started to pull the T-cork last night it shot out of the bottle with a burst of gas behind it

I didn't taste it but may do again tonight.

Having watched this thread develop and, having tasted the wine itself, I have to say I still do not think this is a good development for the world of port. At best it is an attempt to sell more low grade juice to a mass market which, for me, is not what port production should be all about. I would rather see the industry improve quality rather than diluting it with products like this which bear little on no resemblence to the traditional port styles.

As someone alluded to above, if port producers need to shift large quantities of lower quality juice to supplement their port production they could, as many have, produce good quality dry wines rather than this stuff.

This may seem like an old fashioned and traditionalist view but, for me, that is exactly what port is about - old and traditional.

Just my

Derek

[simon Lisle]

well I have just tasted it,As a port well quite frankly it is not no resemblence whatsoever apart from the alcohol level.As a rose however it is mediocre being kind that is an unbiased view.It smelt of vinegar then the familiar rose quite a watered down inoffensive nothing of any character on the palate and a hint of the alcohol on the finish.To be honest unless you wanted to give this a try as something new it would be once only as a female targeted product I think the masses would go back to buying Blossom Hill rose.As attracting females to port that is a none starter as this tastes nothing like ruby or white port.

[Alan C.]

So thanks to Derek and Simon, I'll be confident enough to give this one a miss. I suspect most of us will.

Shame that theory doesn't work with all the young Ports that should be left alone to mature. With the young Ports, countless folk feel the need to taste them and check on their development. Oh well, There's nowt as queer as folk!

Alan :)

[Derek T.]

This is a TN from my partner, Jo. Roy and others will recall Jo drinking Taylor, Fonseca, Graham and Sandeman 63, 66 and 70 so she is not inexperienced.

I had had not told Jo my thoughts on this port before she tasted it. She normally drinks Auzie Shiraz or, more frequently, cheap (£2.99) Portugues Rose. She also appreciates Bollinger 1996 and Roeder Crystal.

I did tell Jo that it was Pink Port before she tasted it.

Jo's first comment was "Smells like Portuguese Rose - the cheap crap!"

When I asked "does it smell like port?", Jo said "not at all". Later, Jo said - rhubarb.

On tasting - Jo said "it doesn't have the weight of port, but is heavier than wine. It sort of sticks to the glass, but not like a liquer would, and definately not like port does.

"The smell is more promising than the taste" - "the best way to describe this is sickly sweet, like CherryB, but CherryB was better than this. This tastes like it's has a pound of sugar added. CherryB was closer to Port than this is!"

I asked Jo one last question. 'if someone bought you this for Valentine's Day, would you say "yes"?' - unfortunately, I'm sleeping on the sofa tonight

Derek

PS: Jo has just emerged from the garage with a bottle of Soda Water - so that she can add it to and finish the glass I poured her

[Richard Henderson]

Derek, I appreciate the insights but still point out that some folks like certain things and dislike others. I have a friend who knows and likes wine but port even the best VP's are just not for him.

That said , I doubt that this pink port will be to the tastes of our household, but I will try it.

Surely Mr. Bridge and his company did some taste tests when they were preparing to market this product.
Maybe he would tell us a little about those marketing studies. And surely someone said they liked it and would buy it.

[simon Lisle]

look Richard I have tried many wines, rose is not my forte but this is rubbish this would have been better as a spritzer at least.

[simon Lisle]

Roy can you point us to any past post's that you have been critical to port shippers to confirm your independant status.Just a thought for everyone.

[Derek T.]

Derek, I appreciate the insights but still point out that some folks like certain things and dislike others. I have a friend who knows and likes wine but port even the best VP's are just not for him.

That said , I doubt that this pink port will be to the tastes of our household, but I will try it.

Surely Mr. Bridge and his company did some taste tests when they were preparing to market this product.
Maybe he would tell us a little about those marketing studies. And surely someone said they liked it and would buy it.

Richard,

I have no doubt whatsoever that some people will like this. My biggest problem with it is that it is so far removed from the traditional product that it purports to be that it can add nothing to it, albeit that it can make money for TFP and M&S.

The industry has, rightly, campaigned vigourously for decades to prevent or discourage producers from other countries using the word Port to describe products that are far closer to real port than this is.

In simple terms, any new style of port should at the very least have some recognisable characteristics that would allow the consumer to identify it with that style of fortified wine. This does not. Which I for one find extremely sad.

Derek

[Tom Archer]

In simple terms, any new style of port should at the very least have some recognisable characteristics that would allow the consumer to identify it with that style of fortified wine. This does not. Which I for one find extremely sad.

Agreed.

From the tasting notes published, I struggle to see this product creating new converts to the cause, but do see a very real risk of people trying this wine, and concluding that port wines as a whole are not for them.

Researching the concept of a rose port was an enlightened diversion from the norm, but taking a product to market that has little more than novelty value seems an error of judgment, particularly from a company that has a hard earned reputation for quality.

Every business has to take risks, and every business makes mistakes from time to time.

I hope the TFP has the courage to think again about marketing this wine under the Croft label, and considers the possibility of letting the remaining stock flow quietly out to sea..

Tom

[Alan C.]

Do you think there is/was a White Rum Forum somewhere that looked on in horror as the marketing men started to push Bacardi Breezer.
'It's just Orange juice with a hint of alcohol'
'It should at least show some of White Rums great attributes'

This may be a poor example, but the point is that your purist views, and love of the product, will not effect the whims of the mass markets, and the guile of the marketing men.

I've got schizophrenia on this subject. I want Port to have a higher profile and become known to the general population. I don't want the resulting daft gimmicks and unusual products, which will result in price hikes and more problems with VP rarity.

Like our Port Forums themselves, sometimes you can lead, other times you are led.

Alan

[Glenn E.]

Alan,

I understand your point, but the problem with your example is that it is very normal for rum to be mixed with all kinds of other things in order to make drinks. The Bacardi Breezer is just a pre-made mixed drink in the minds of consumers, and that's why it works. Furthermore, there really wasn't much of a risk of the Bacardi Breezer turning people away from rum (or even Bacardi) because it isn't a variation of rum, it's a pre-made example of a use for rum. If you like it you might experiment with other uses for rum. If you don't like it you're liable to blame to other ingredients and not the rum itself.

In order to have a product more similar to the Bacardi Breezer, you'd need to produce and market something like a pre-made Port Tonic.

I'd like to try Pink Port to see what it's like, but my gut reaction is that it is a solution in search of a problem.

[guilherme]

The bottle I opened last week has remained in the fridge for 7 days. When I started to pull the T-cork last night it shot out of the bottle with a burst of gas behind it
Derek

Oh my ! So it's also fizzy. Pink Fizzy Port.
That's how it develops in the bottle.
They should make a recall of that stuff. The first
prototype launched did not work. Poor couples in
Valentine day ...

Guilherme

[Andy Velebil]

The "gas" Derek is refering to is the same thing I get if I put a corked bottle in the fridge overnight, then let it warm up on the counter before removing the cork....there is then a hiss of air that comes out. Or so I assume that is what Derek is refering to.

I've not had it, but I can guess that its not fizzy, carbonated, or the like. I assume the "gas" is just the pressure difference being released when the bottle warms up and the air inside expands.

[guilherme]

The "gas" Derek is refering to is the same thing I get if I put a corked bottle in the fridge overnight, then let it warm up on the counter before removing the cork....there is then a hiss of air that comes out. Or so I assume that is what Derek is refering to.

I've not had it, but I can guess that its not fizzy, carbonated, or the like. I assume the "gas" is just the pressure difference being released when the bottle warms up and the air inside expands.

I see. The cool of the fridge allows more air inside the bottle. Warm it and it expands. Cork holds it. Pull the cork, it blows.
Anyway, Derek may clarify.

Guilherme