Different ports

Port is a wonderful way to mark a special event such as a birth, graduation or wedding. Vintage ports can lie down for at least 20 years, for future enjoyment.

There are many styles of port with different aging potential. First, there is the simpler ruby port, stored in stainless steel tanks and blended to present a preferred style and taste.This port in fined (a substance is added to attract the solids and proteins, whereby they form a clump that falls to the bottom, leaving the wine clear), and cold filtered but will not improve with age.

Next we have a Late Bottled Vintage, which is aged in barrels between four to six years and is also fined and filtered.This method allows you to enjoy a glass of port and recork the bottle; however, purists argue this method strips a significant amount of character from the wine.Again, this is a port that will not improve with age.

The next two styles of port you would consider lying down. The first is Crusted port, which is usually a blend of vintages that is unfiltered, bottled and held back for a minimum of three years, prior to release. Crusted port is a blend of vintages so the wine is more immediately approachable but requires decanting due to excessive sediment. This wine will improve with age and the date on the bottle makes reference to the bottling date, not the years the grapes were grown.

Next is Vintage port, which is the gold standard for port and represents about two per cent of all ports produced. Vintage ports are made from single year vintages and only from harvests satisfying the vintage standards. This port spends a short time in a barrel and is bottled young to retain its rich ruby color and fruit flavors, which continue to gain complexity decades after bottling. This port you lay down to enjoy for a future occasion.

This time of year the wineries are on the cusp of releasing their new vintages so we have a whole new series of wines to look forward to. You might remember last spring, there was a late and hard frost that hit the vineyards and knocked back the volume of growth.With the great weather that followed through summer and autumn the resulting harvest, although smaller yield, promised wonderful wines.

So, to cut to the chase, I recently tasted a fantastic 2010 Muscat by By Chadsey’s Cairns ($26.20) beautifully crafted from estate- grown grapes. The nose is a bouquet of stargazer lilies, lychee, Turkish delight and fresh lime zest. The palate catches you off guard, as this wine is dry and crisp with lingering flavors of lemon and lime and a long clean finish. As I recall, only 50 cases of this sumptuous wine were produced, so secure some before it is sold out. Bravo, winemaker Vida Zalnieriunas, this treat deserves wellwarranted applause.