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The way things are going in Washington these days, the above headline needs a bit more information - because it seems like a Walla Walla winery is opening a second tasting room in Woodinville about every other week.
ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — Northwest wineries fared well at the 2010 Grand Harvest Awards, an international wine competition staged by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine.
Q. I'd like to know more about wine and port storage: temperature, time considerations, upright or on side and other aspects I might not have considered. My primary concern is storage of ports.
A. Let's talk general storage practices first. I can't think of a reason not to store all wine bottles on their sides. Every bottle with a natural cork needs to be stored on its side to keep the cork wet so it doesn't shrink, let in oxygen that eventually will damage the wine and allow the bottle to leak if it is tipped. Even with the increasing number of polymer corks, you can't go wrong storing your wine on its side.
Wine cabinets built specifically to keep your treasured bottles at their peak generally operate at about 55 degrees. That's a good rule of thumb for your storage site. Much colder and the chill may encourage some of the reds to precipitate out of solution vital ingredients that contribute complexity to the aromas and flavors. Plus, wine stored too cold has to be warmed so you can enjoy its flavors. Even a good white shouldn't be served too cold. The aromas will hide, and the flavors will be subdued. The key to any good wine's taste — the volatile compounds that fill your mouth and nose as you taste and swallow — can't evaporate from your body heat if they reach your palate when they are too cold.
If you don't have a controlled-temperature cabinet for your wines, don't worry. Keep their temperature constant and cool. A consistent 65 degrees in your basement is fine. Beware any storage site where the temperature fluctuates rapidly and regularly. A sunny room that's 65 degrees in the morning and 80 by late afternoon will kill any wine rather quickly.
Keep wine away from light, especially fluorescents, which seem to be able to damage wine rather quickly. And keeping your wine away from vibrations (such as electric motors) will extend its shelf life markedly.
Wine Press Northwest recently conducted a vertical tasting of Woodward Canyon wines (see Page 28) that were up to 19 years old. Not one was fading from age. A few had reached the "drink it soon" category, but they were uniformly well preserved. The excellent condition of the wines was testimonial to good storage.
Port is among the easiest wines to preserve because of its high alcohol, good acid and plentiful tannins.
"If you buy wines for the next generation, port is the thing to buy," said Coke Roth, a well-known Northwest wine judge from Kennewick, Wash.
When well stored, they will last for decades, perhaps 100 years, according to some sources. With an alcohol content ranging toward 20 percent, it's routine for the wines of Oporto, Portugal, to outlast their owners. Most lovers of vintage ports wouldn't dream of opening a bottle that's younger than 15 years of age. Mike Wallace, winemaker at Hinzerling Winery in Prosser, Wash., and a pioneer in Northwest port production, believes his vintage ports will age well for 10 to 15 years.
An open bottle of port, although it will last better than other wines, should not be expected to abide more than several days without changing. If you want to save a port that's partially drunk, buy some glass marbles, wash thoroughly, and drop them into the bottle until it's full. To keep the wine for a brief time, buy one of those gimmicks that pulls the air out of a bottle. You also can put leftovers into a smaller bottle and cork it.
Q. What's the dent found in the bottom of many wine bottles — especially sparkling wines — called? And why is it there?
A. That indent has at least two English names: the "punt" and the "kick-up," plus an earlier term, now apparently out of use, "kick." My Oxford English Dictionary states the first known use of punt to describe the indent dates to 1863. Kick-up appears in the early 20th century, and the OED lists "kick" as a synonym, dating to 1861. The term from which punt is derived can be traced back in glass-making several hundred years, apparently as the name of the tool that put the dent into the bottle.
As for its purpose, that's hardly clear. Some say it's a leftover from long-ago glass-blowing techniques. Others that it strengthens the bottle, especially champagne bottles, which have to endure the pressure of a sparkling wine and which, with the punt, stack easier upside down, an asset during traditional champagne making. Others suggest its original purpose was to help a bottle stand up, since bottles didn't always have flat bottoms. And those who note red wines often are put up in bottles with punts have suggested the punt collects sediment and makes an aged red wine easier to decant.
All of these explanations — and perhaps a few more — sound good, but none is universally accepted. Whether the punt makes a bottle stronger, for example, is unproved, according to sources I could find.
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