Tuesday, Sep. 04, 2007

How to store Port

By Ken Robertson, Wine Press Northwest

Should I store my Port wines differently than my other wines? I have a temperature-controlled wine cabinet but have not seen any information on whether Port should be stored differently to allow it to age properly. And at what temperature should it be stored?

Although I regularly drink a bit of Port around the holidays, I'm not exactly an expert. So I consulted a couple of folks from my area in Eastern Washington who produce some excellent Port - Rob Griffin, owner and winemaker at Barnard Griffin Winery in Richland, Wash., and Wade Wolfe, owner and winemaker at Thurston Wolfe Winery in Prosser, Wash.

Barnard Griffin, which was Wine Press Northwest's Winery of the Year in 2006, produces a fine Syrah Port and Thurston Wolfe offers two excellent bottlings - a Zinfandel Port and JTW Port, a blend of Touriga, Souzao, Petit Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wade Wolfe noted that Port lovers should remember to drink their Ruby and Tawny Ports young because they're not designed to age. And treat aged Port "like fine red table wine."

Both Wolfe and Griffin had much the same advice for Port storage. Put it into your wine cabinet, which should be set to maintain a temperature of about 55 degrees, and hold on until you have the right special occasion.

And so long as your storage method maintains its integrity, you don't have much to worry about with Port. A few years ago, two close friends, my wife and I enjoyed a stellar dinner to celebrate a 50th birthday at The Herbfarm Restaurant in Woodinville, Wash. Our dinner was capped off by a stunning Port that dated from 1914, as I recall.

I'd be ecstatic to have something like it to age even more in my wine cabinet. And Wine Press Northwest Editor Andy Perdue recently sipped a bit of Royal Oporto produced in 1896, and he continues to drool over the experience. Clearly, a fine Port, well stored, can outlast its owner.

So, don't be reluctant to age the appropriate kind of Port. Griffin also noted there's no sin in drinking Port, especially the Northwest version, when it's young and all that wonderful fruit from a fine vintage remains at its peak. In fact, he speaks about the virtues of young Port with a relish that makes me suspect one wouldn't find many aged Ports hanging around the Griffin household.

Sometimes I get a headache within a half hour of drinking a sparkling wine. Other wines don't seem to affect me the same way. Is there something about sparkling wine that causes this?

Sparkling wine (or Champagne, if it's from the famous region of France) does indeed have a higher concentration of a headache-causing chemical than most other wines. During the second fermentation of sparkling wine, which creates the sparkle by instilling the famous carbon dioxide bubbles, some other byproducts also emerge.

Almost certainly the culprit causing your headaches is acetaldehyde, which also is found in ripe fruit, coffee and fresh bread. It affects how we feel when we consume items that contain it, including wine, depending on the level an individual can tolerate.

Acetaldehyde is blamed for playing a major role in the head-pounding consequence we all hate most from overindulging. The liver processes alcohol twice. Once to break it down to acetaldehyde, then a second time to produce acetic acid, which the body can dispose of.

But acetaldehyde, combined with the absorption and processing of alcohol, produces a sort of double-barreled impact. That can produce a raging headache, which to some degree depends on the amount of acetaldehyde in a particular wine.

Sherry also is higher in acetaldehyde, according to The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia.

Genetics also reportedly play a role in how susceptible one is to acetaldehyde, with people who get a strong "alcoholic flush" apparently more likely to suffer most from the chemical's effects.

My advice: Drink sparkling wine sparingly and with plenty of water when you do. It will help mitigate the impacts of both the alcohol and the acetaldehyde.

Wine Words: Veraison

Ah, yes, time to return to our French lessons. Veraison is the time of summer when the grapes begin to tell us visually that they have begun to ripen. Red varieties begin to gain color, while white grapes add sugar and tartaric acid, declining in malic acid. White varieties that will add a kiss of bronze (Pinot Gris) or dusky rose (Gewürztraminer) also begin to signal their ultimate colors.

Typically, the grapes do not change much in size at this point, according to The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia.

In the Pacific Northwest, veraison typically occurs, depending on location and grape variety, sometime between mid-July and the first week of August. Pass by a vineyard about then, and you should be able to see evidence the ripening process has begun.

For the winemaker, this change signals the time has arrived to begin harvest preparations, and it soon will be time to begin monitoring sugar levels.

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