So I'm taking a bit of a leap here. I did search the forum and I see a lot of discussion about port wine, a handful of recipes and very few agreements. I also couldn't find anyone making a port looking to do what I plan on it.
So my fiancee and I enjoy port. I've been making beer for a few years, and recently started making some wine. Our wedding is coming up at the end of June. Something I thought would be nice would be to make a Port for us. Not for the wedding, but for us to enjoy each year on our anniversary. I plan on making a 6 gallon batch, bottling in 375ML bottles, synthetic corks and waxed. This should net us a bottle a year for the rest of our lives, and likely will result in a few bottles left over for our children to enjoy and remember us after we're gone.
The idea here is that our marriage should age like wine (yes I'm a sap like that), and I expect a Port would be able to hold up to that sort of extended age if handled properly. I expect to put a lot of time into this batch, I don't expect to bottle for probably a couple of years to let it bulk age and mature with plenty of exposure oak. So while I'm down for a long game here, I want to make sure that I have a good recipe that will stand up to long aging and won't suck. This is a one-shot deal, I won't have the opportunity to tweak the next batch to make it better, and I haven't tried anything like this before. I'm really hoping to find someone who has a good Port recipe already, preferably something they've known has aged at least a few years and taken to it well.
So... any thoughts? Am I asking too much here?
So my fiancee and I enjoy port. I've been making beer for a few years, and recently started making some wine. Our wedding is coming up at the end of June. Something I thought would be nice would be to make a Port for us. Not for the wedding, but for us to enjoy each year on our anniversary. I plan on making a 6 gallon batch, bottling in 375ML bottles, synthetic corks and waxed. This should net us a bottle a year for the rest of our lives, and likely will result in a few bottles left over for our children to enjoy and remember us after we're gone.
The idea here is that our marriage should age like wine (yes I'm a sap like that), and I expect a Port would be able to hold up to that sort of extended age if handled properly. I expect to put a lot of time into this batch, I don't expect to bottle for probably a couple of years to let it bulk age and mature with plenty of exposure oak. So while I'm down for a long game here, I want to make sure that I have a good recipe that will stand up to long aging and won't suck. This is a one-shot deal, I won't have the opportunity to tweak the next batch to make it better, and I haven't tried anything like this before. I'm really hoping to find someone who has a good Port recipe already, preferably something they've known has aged at least a few years and taken to it well.
So... any thoughts? Am I asking too much here?