I hate Wine Snobs. They focus exclusively on packaging, on labeling. About Port they know Taylor’s, Graham’s, Fonseca, Dow’s, maybe they know David Guimaraens and the Symington boys.
But they don’t know the basics. With the same grapes the Port industry produces two totally different styles of wine:
Ruby wine style – bottled young, guarding dark color, fruity aromas and bulky body with tannin strenght. It changes significantly during the long years in bottle. Most representative special categories are the Late Bottled Vintage (L.B.V.) and the famous Vintage. Recently the Vintage 2011 was considered of exceptional quality and stated Classic.
Tawny wine style – aged in pipas (550 lts barrels) or other small oak vessels, they change to the tawny blonde color and gain complex aromas of oxygene and wood, as dried fruit, caramel and spices. The body softens and becomes velvety and elegant. The bottle is not more than a resting place and a showcase of this nectar. Special categories are blends of 10, 20, 30 or 40 years and the pipas of an exceptional year may be certified as Colheita.
