For The Love Of Port

I've recently read an article about how shops are ruining their port by not storing it correctly. Interestingly enough the article appeared in Norwegian media, but featured Danish wine shops (due to the fact that Norway have a monopoly on wine trading (monopolet) and many Norwegians buy wine in Denmark when they visit on vacation). Scandinavians can read the full article here: http://www.dn.no/vinguiden/article1443289.ece

Anyway, the article said that they tested port from several shops in Copenhagen and found many to be damaged due to exposure to heat. :?

At first I didn't think much of this, but today I visited a wine shop in the central of copenhagen and it occured to me that they just had a lot of their VP out in the open in the store, which means that it would be stored at around 22-25C as a minimum. They even had a Hooper 1908 priced at $ 800 US lying in the open . If they have a high turnover of port and only store the individual bottles for a short period of time in the store, I guess it doesn't matter, but how much VP do they really sell?

Denmark doesn't have the warmest of climates, but storing port in the open doesn't seem like a good idea in the long run, or does it really matter as long as the temperature doesn't get extrem?
How many stores does really have 'display bottles' and chilled bottles on storage somewhere?

-Lars

Lars F wrote:Anyway, the article said that they tested port from several shops in Copenhagen and found many to be damaged due to exposure to heat. :?

This doesn’t surprise me at all (beyond trying to conjure an image in my head of it being hot enough in Copenhagen to cause heat-damage!) and I think it is a real problem in the UK too. Not just the heat, but also the fact that they are often left standing upright, which will eventually cause the corks to dry out. This sort of treatment is only viable if there is a high turn-over, but there are only a few places which seem to be able to guarantee that, even for the lower end of the spectrum. Also, almost every wine merchant which sells Port in the UK (including the chains) seems to keep one vaguely-oldish VP on the shelves waiting for months in vain for a buyer, which must cause deterioration in the wine.

There are a few exceptions, though and even for small shops I’ve come across a couple of independents who have put the effort in and kept their Port lying down in a cool place.

-Jacob

I'd first like to know how they tested them to find out they were heat damaged. Then i'm a bit suspicious as the article didn't test wines in thier own country, but in a neighboring one where people take their money out of the country to buy their wine. Seems like they are trying to keep people from buying outside Norway.

I do find it hard to believe that heat is a major issue in Scandinavian countries. Unless of course someone cranks up the heaters in the winter time. The one and only time I was in several Scandinavian countrys during the summer time, it never got hot even during a "heat wave". But that was relative as it was 103 degrees when I left Los Angeles to go there, so to me it was quite cool.

If indeed the wine was only at that temp for a short time I don't really see it becoming heat damaged at 22C. Wine is a bit more sturdier than people think and just look at wine before the days of refridgerated transport. The most important thing is to buy from a store you know and trust.

I'd be very surprised if 22-25C could heat damage wine, even over the long term. It takes "extremes" of heat or cold to damage wine, which in my mind means more like 30C and above.

22-25C might age the wine more quickly than cellar temp, but that's not really damage. Storing the bottles upright for extended periods of time is more risky to me.

Why is it then a problem to store your port in cases in the closet/under the bed etc. as the temperature would not be extreme here? It must be an advantage that the port matures faster for must of us as we would be able to drink more bottle aged port for lower price?

The real demon in your closet is temperature variation, I think. Varying the temp from 65F at night to 75-80F during the day, every day, for years will do significant damage. However if your closet is a constant 70F it shouldn't be a problem.

In my previous post I was making the assumption that a shop would be climate controlled, which I suppose may not be the case.

Its funny (and sad really) that the local real fine wine shop stores a lot of its VPs in bottles standing on end. While down the road a few blocks is a store that knows nothing about fine wines, yet have a locked cabinet where the VP and the more expensive reds (two Bordeaux and one Burgandy I believe) are stored horizontally, sheltered from the windows in the joint.

The REALLY expensive stuff (the two bottles of NN2000/2003 they have as well as a '70 Dow, '85 Fonseca, 97 Fonseca/Taylor and 2000 Fonseca) are stored properly in a proper room with temperature and humidity controls.

Todd

There is a wine store near me that keeps some really high end stuff (1996 Salon, Graham's 40 year tawny, etc) standing up in a curio cabinet with halogen spot lights mere inches from the tops of the bottles. The heat from those lamps inside a very small closed cabinet has got to be doing some damage. In the summer his shop isn't the coldest either. A few weeks ago I walked in and the temp gauge on the wall said 80 degress That is way to warm for any wine store to be at. Needless to say I don't buy from him.

It's a real shame to see really good wines subjected to that type of treatment. You just know that the bottles may eventually end up getting bought by some unwitting consumer who will not know any better. Or it will end up in a bin-end/discount sale bin and then bought by the same. And what happens? They perhaps have a miserable experience with that wine or producer and then don't return to that particular brand/style of wine again. Not the best way to have the cause spread. :x

Todd

Port is pretty forgiving, but anything that is on the shelf is not going to be like a cellared bottle. It's hard to sell any product if it is not on the shelf.

You could always ask if there's more "out back" and you'd prefer that bottle than the one on the shelf. How ironic that the most exclusive bottles in the wooden case with lights get the worst storage in a store....

I think winters cause more damage due to the store heaters than the summers do.

I think it would be awesome to open a wine shop that is totally in cellar conditions. Shoppers could borrow a coat to walk around and there would be no worries as to the storage conditions on anything.

This is a really small store and these are their only bottles of it (the store is mainly mid to lower end QPR type wines). I know they are displayed like that to make the store seem like they have some high end suff. But I would never recommend buying from them, as their store is way to hot in the summer.

Moses Botbol wrote:I think it would be awesome to open a wine shop that is totally in cellar conditions. Shoppers could borrow a coat to walk around and there would be no worries as to the storage conditions on anything.

This would be the other thing I would do if I won a lottery with a big figure... after taking care of my OWN cellar, I would probably open a Tim Hortons or Starbucks store, to provide long-term, steady income for my kids, and then open a cellar-wine store for something to do myself.

Of course, then I might have to learn "restraint" as the proprietor isn't supposed to drink all the product before the consumer can buy it

I'll never forget an incident from 16 years ago in DC (I lived in VA then) and walked into a very popular and respected wine emporium that carried a fantastic lineup of VPs and vintage dated Tawny. It was February and it was snowy out and cold. I walked into the shop and the heat was blasting and it felt great to get out of the bitter cold for awhile. However, it immediately dawned on me that the shop which was at least 75 degrees (an older woman ran the shop) was cooking their wine and I walked out having to leave some very tempting bottles behind. :wall: