Fortifying Port

[AlFulchino]

found out that everclear is not sold in NH but grain alcohol is...and the lady at the state liq commission said she mostly sells this to people looking to clean equipment while leaving no traces on teh equipment

 

[ibglowin]

Just make sure it is for human consumption. It should have the tax seal on it. It should not be "denatured" ethanol by any means!

 

[AlFulchino]

thanks Mike....i will look at it again next time i see it...it *did* have the surgeon general warning on it

 

[Sirs]

you mean Pure Grain Alcohol hospital grade probably if so it is what the med students use to make their fruit bowls with for parties same as everclear only it is the pure stuff for medical needs

 

[Sirs]

well according to post on previous page it seems I'm not the only person who likes my wine to have more than the normal kick to it $28 for a 375 ml bottle of rocket fuel can you imagine lol

 

[AlFulchino]

i will get the details...apparently the same exact product is sold in liquor stores in the state of CT

 

[Giovannino]

Yep, there are several ways to arrive at a fortified wine. All of them are right.

Port originated in Portugal. There, based on everything I have read and videos I have watched, they let the must ferment down to a level where the must is still sweet, about 10% sugar left, then they add plain 72% ABV brandy to kill the yeast and arrest fermentation.

vineonology.com has a great video library. They have several videos on how port is made in Portugal. They define the differences between ruby port and tawny port. Very interesting site, by the way. great wine news section.

Hi Robie, would you check that website again PLEASE.
Are you meaning: www.vinoenology.com

 

[robie]

Sorry for the spelling error. Yes. it is vinoenology.com. Great site!

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Just as an aside here, there is a small winery just 20 miles down the road and he just released his first estate grown Zin port. Price is $28 for a 375ml split!

I know in the liquor industry, the taxes jump as the alc. goes up. that is why so many beers are at 5%, and liquors are at 40%(part of the reason Jack Danials droped there proof from 86 to 80). Not sure what the cut offs are ( some of you winery owners may know) for wine, Do taxes go up over 20%... thus higher price for port??? Or just a high profit item??

 

[ckassotis]

FWIW, Port Houses in Portugal actually do not fortify their ports with brandy. They use a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente. I don't know exactly how it differs from brandy, but my understanding is that it imparts no flavor to the wine, as brandy does, so it doesn't modify the traditional grape blend used there. I believe it is also a higher ABV at around 75% or something similar. From my understanding it isn't available in the states, but can be bought if you are in Europe.

 

[hvac36]

By definition, aguardientes are strongly alcoholic beverages, obtained by fermentation and later distillation of sugared or sweet musts, vegetable macerations, or mixtures of the two. This is the most generic level; by this definition, aguardientes may be made from a number of different sources. Fruit-based aguardientes include those made from oranges, grapes, bananas, or medronho ("cane apple"). Grain-based ones may be made from millet, barley, or rice and tuber-based aguardientes from beet, manioc, or potato, and finally what are classed as "true" aguardientes from sugarcane and other sweet canes, including some species of bamboo. Under this definition, many other distinct liquors could be called aguardientes, including vodka, sake, pisco, and certain forms of hard chicha.
This definition, nevertheless, is not legally accepted by the European Union,[2] which uses a very traditional concept of "aguardiente". All "aguardientes" have to be "obtained by the distillation after alcoholic fermentation of an agricultural product or products listed in Annex I to the Treaty which does not have properties of ethyl alcohol or of spirit drink but still retains the aroma and taste of raw material(s) used. Where reference is made to the raw material used, the distillate must be obtained exclusively from raw material".[3] From bananas, or oranges or medronho it is not possible to obtain "aguardiente". Cognac, Armagnac and Lourinhã, instead, are namely listed as concrete wine "aguardiente".[4] Calvados is listed between other cider and perry "aguardientes".[5]
On 14 November 1996, it was concluded in analysis[citation needed] that cane aguardiente and cachaça are similar, but distinct, products. Cane aguardiente was thereafter defined in Brazil as an alcoholic beverage of between 38% and 54% alcohol by volume, obtained by simple fermentation and distillation of sugarcane that has already been used in the sugar-production process, and which has distinct flavour similar to rum. Cachaça, on the other hand, is an alcoholic beverage of between 38% and 48% alcohol by volume, obtained by fermentation and distillation of sugarcane juice which may have added sugar up to 6 g/L.

 

[Deezil]

Aguardente just sounds like Portugal brandy that never seen the inside of an oak barrel. Like vodka, but made from the same grapes as are in the wine itself.

It would 'impart no flavor' because distilling strips most flavors & by using the same grape, the only flavors left in distillation are already present in the wine anywho.

 

[ckassotis]

Has to be some other differences too, I'd imagine. I've never seen a brandy at 75% abv. Most of the ones I've seen are anywhere from 30-40%, so less than half that. I'm also not sure I would discount the fact that they say it imparts no flavor either. Real ports from Portugal are a complex blend of traditionally at least 5 different grapes. So just picking 1 would be difficult in that case. Have my brother looking for a bottle in Europe though, so if he manages to find me one, perhaps that will shed some light on it.

 

[Deezil]

Has to be some other differences too, I'd imagine. I've never seen a brandy at 75% abv. Most of the ones I've seen are anywhere from 30-40%, so less than half that.

I would guess that the ABV of commercially available brandy's in the US is dictated mostly by tax brackets on ABV levels. I'm sure they could crank the ABV higher in commercial brandy, but beside the money, they probably start losing complexities..

I'm also not sure I would discount the fact that they say it imparts no flavor either. Real ports from Portugal are a complex blend of traditionally at least 5 different grapes. So just picking 1 would be difficult in that case.

When i said 'imparts no flavor', i was just using the words of others - i guess what i should have said was 'imparts no flavors not already present'. It would make sense that they use a blend in making the aguardente, as well as the wine itself - these blends are probably different from winery/family to winery/family, in Portugal.


My personal take on the making of traditional ports, is easiest when related to an F-Pac (saving some fruit to add at the end, yet instead of simmering to condense flavors, they concentrate the alcohol).

It makes sense to me, that they would harvest the vineyards & run a fermentation like normal.. Then mid-fermentation, siphon off a % of must from each varietal to run through the still.. When done with that, return this now-aguardente to the fermenting wine.

I cant see them over-complicating the process & it lasting the test of time. Thinking it through, this is the system that makes most sense to me... Or some variation of it. I could be off, or completely wrong but i'd be surprised if it was more complicated

 

[frtrey]

I realise this thread has been dormant a wee while, but I was curious -

Is it feasible to just make port directly with Zin juice? And as I understand the process - hold a liter of juice with some sorbate (and k-meta?) for a f-pack- but go ahead and ferment down to 4-10% sugars (I think that may be hydrometer 301, and I've only had 101 ) then fortify with spirit of choice and add f-pack. Clear and bottle?

 

[Runningwolf]

Do not use any sorbate. The added spirits will keep the wine from refermenting.

 

[wjdonahue]

Tje f-pack that they talked about comes with kit wines and since you are making the wine from grapes, it wouldn't apply to you since you couldn't get just the f-pack.
For true port, there are two basic ways that it can be made from grapes. Traditionally, fermentation is shut down by adding alcohol (brandy, grappa, etc.) when the brix lowers to the point of sweetness that you prefer. Even in Portugal, home of the port, this has become problematic in the last few years. The reason is that most of the presently available yeast strains are much more alcohol tolerant, and cannot reliably be counted on to not keep fermenting for a while. An example is EC1118 which will be still active up to 19%. Because of this, it is now common to shut down the fermentation using KSorbate and then adding alcohol. I like to have the shut down wine as close to 6% residual sugar as I can get (my taste.) Then brandy is added, using the Pearson Square to determine volume to add, to bring the alcohol content to 19% (fortifyine the wine. Then set it aside and let it age either in bulk or in the bottle.
Another method that is commonly used is to ferment the wine dry, and then add a susse reserve of unfermented juice and Ksorbate to bring it up to your desired sweetness. Though it isn't traditional, it does allow for bench testing to get exactly the sweetness you are looking for. Then fortify it.
If you are making the port from grapes, it will not be ready to drink in a year. I have some Zin Port that at 10 years is continuing to get better.
Forget the f-pack references since you are fermenting from grapes, and use either method above. And good luck.

 

[ibglowin]

Thats the method I chose to do with 6 gallons of my Petit Syrah from this years crush. I fermented it fully to dry almost 16% ABV! Its sitting in a new Vadai now for 4 months. I purchased a can on Alexanders Zinfandel Concentrate and I will be back sweetening to around 10% residual with that and then fortifying with Brandy up to 19%ABV. It will sit in a carboy for a year before it gets bottled just to make sure its good and stable. Not in a hurry to say the least on this one but hoping it turns out fantastic obviously.

 

[wjdonahue]

Mike

Like the concentrate.....when I save back juice, Im only getting less bottles that you will fermenting it all and then using concentrate. (laughing). And concentrate is cheap.

 

[tfries]

There is a distillery in Oregon called Clear Creek. They produce a 152 proof brandy distilled from Oregon wine. It is available in 1.5l bottles for $33.00. I picked up one today and am going to use it to fortify a batch of Zin Port that I am going to make. Took a small swig from it when I got home. Zang, it is one hot spirit.