Welcome to our eighth post in our series on the wines of Portugal, and the second on the region of Douro. Today, we’ll finally get into Portugal’s most famous wine, Porto. If you’re not ready for Porto, and you want to start at the beginning, head over to Dão, and then click through to the right.
Port
Port is a complicated, and delicious rabbit hole. While it starts its life like other red wines, being crushed, it wouldn’t have it’s beautiful color or character without the additional trodding. Since Porto has its fermentation stopped relatively quickly with the addition of brandy (which preserves the sugars), it also means that there isn’t as much time in contact with the skins (for color or tannins). In order to accomplish this, the grapes have to be trodden by human foot (or in modern times, mechanical elements) to macerate the skins in a lagar for hours.
After this is completed, the juice is poured out of the lagar, and allowed to ferment. Typically, it’s given half the time of a normal red wine to ferment before the process is stopped with neutral grape brandy. At this point, the basic portion of the Port making process is complete, and the wine then undergoes the next phase of it’s life, aging.
To start with, we’ll talk about the most basic level of Porto, Ruby / Reserve. This category of Port is typically aged 2-3 years in the bottle, if not longer in some of the Reserve cases. These Porto tend to more fruit forward, and are full of red berries, black fruits, chocolate, and bright acidity.
Quick Summary on Port
- Known for: Port!*
- Best Wine Style: Fortified, vivid and sweet red wines
- Best Varietals: Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz, Sousão, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional
- Notable Producers: Cockburn’s, Dow’s, Graham’s, Niepoort, Quinta do Noval, Sandeman, Taylor Fladgate, Warre’s
Fonseca Bin No 27 Porto
With the entry level of Port, many of the producers listed above are dependable. Ruby Port / Reserve Porto tend to taste best in their youth, and are cheap and lively. While Fonseca Bin No 27 Porto isn’t on that list, its merely for space reasons, not lack of quality. In fact, many people were thrilled with the value Fonseca Bin No 27 Porto offered, so how does it taste?
Sight: A vibrant ruby set of edges surrounding a firm violet core.
Smell: A deep, ripe blackberry character wafts up and combines with jammy raspberries, black currant, hints of spice, and touches of cocoa.
Sip: The body is full, and slightly sweet, but not overly so. The texture is smooth, and there is the typical heat that accompanies so much alcohol. Sweetened raspberries, touches of chocolate, concentrated blackberries, and bits of blueberry all come into play. A touch of red licorice and plenty of baking spice get involved
Savor: The ending is more spicy, with plenty of tobacco and baking spices. There are good elements of jammy blackberry on the ending, and the finish is both long, and interestingly tannic.
Fonseca Bin No 27 Porto is packed with flavor, if not complexity. For the money, it certainly is loaded with blackberries, raspberries, chocolate, and good sweetness. There are some elements of the spices leaning into the herbal side, and the finish is quite interesting with the extra tannic character. For less than $20, Fonseca Bin No 27 Porto is an inspired value that will last quite a while.
Verdict: Blackberry, Berries, Chocolate, Spice
Rating: 89
Price: $15
Douro, Portugal
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