I will soon be the proud owner of a 5lt port barrel and was wondering if any of have any tips regarding how to blend your own ports… I have heard a few recipes where people mix brandy/muscat with a cheap tawny then add a good tawny and in 2 months wollah! the cheap port will take on the characteristics of the good bottle etc etc. i have also heard of adding your leftover wine dregs into the barrel to top up your port.
Are there any port lovers out there who may be able to assist and put me on the right track here? I will be using the barrel for pre bought tawnys and left over wine dregs, not making port from scratch. Can you leave the port in the barrel too long?
Many thanks
Hi All
I am looking to purchase a decent bulk port from the Swan Valley in Perth for my barrel. Can anyone recommend a winery who may be able to assist me here. I would be looking for 10L.
Thank you
BTW i began filling the barrel last night and being a newbie to this kind of thing i havent had much experience with Muscat. Anyway i purchased a bottle of Stanton and Killeen 12yr old Rutherglen $30 and filled the barrel with 1/2 500 ml bottle of that...to cut a long story short, i found the muscat absolutely delightful and doubt i will have the other 1/2 for much longer!
Cheers to muscat!
PS I will welcome any good muscat tips now as well lol.
Talijancich are great, they sell quite a range of fortifieds. Try their '1962' Solero while you're there.
There used to be a winery on the main road where you could take your own container and they would fill it for you. Might have been Twin Hills, or Highway Wines? Compared with Talijancich though, you may be testing the abilities of your barrel a bit more
As for Muscats, the Seppelt range is not a bad start, and try their Tokays too.
rocket wrote:Hi All I am looking to purchase a decent bulk port from the Swan Valley in Perth for my barrel. Can anyone recommend a winery who may be able to assist me here. I would be looking for 10L. Thank you
BTW i began filling the barrel last night and being a newbie to this kind of thing i havent had much experience with Muscat. Anyway i purchased a bottle of Stanton and Killeen 12yr old Rutherglen $30 and filled the barrel with 1/2 500 ml bottle of that...to cut a long story short, i found the muscat absolutely delightful and doubt i will have the other 1/2 for much longer! Cheers to muscat! PS I will welcome any good muscat tips now as well lol.
Forget the Swan Valley if you want bulk port of any quality. Get on Stanton & Killeen's web site and get it shipped from them.
thx to all who helped me out here.
dkw i will give Talijancich a try as its the closest for me being a Perthy. will let u know how i go. if its no good i will try stanton and killeen. actually thats just reminded me i have a 250mls left of the S & K muscat to go and enjoy now.
cheers!
Back to your original posting, Rocket - nobody has told you that NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
do not tip your leftover wine into the port barrel.
How do I say this? The integrity of the barrel will be forever tainted (or f@#$ed). Technically it is no longer port - its been tainted by whatever you've added to it.
So, don't do it. Keep port aside for separate consumption.
Cheers
Allan
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.
From the previous posts, and given that you are now talking a 5L barrel, then muscat is probably the way to go. For port, I'd go 20L, but for muscat at lower quantities, we are still back to S&K supplying the basics.
Go for it.
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.
Sorry if this comes across as a thread hijack - I've read the other threads linked to from this one and have a few questions.
I assume that Muscat/Tokay is easier to make in smaller barrel, than port and its easier(st) to start with a bulk supply and let it concentrate in the barrel and go it's thing.
How would one make a port from scratch - I assume this is the most easily stuffed up of the lot - but for the sake of interest how would one go about it - personally this thread has inspired me, but I'd like to see how I go about a muscat or tokay then depending on results move up to a port.
thx for all your advice waiters friend!
i def wont be adding drips and drabs on leftover red then. cheers for the tip.
since my last post i have partially filled the barrel (still 1.5L to go) with some basic young port, grant burge aged tawny $12 x 2...penfolds reserve club $12 x 2 and another young tawny we had lying around with 250ml of the S & K 12 yo Muscat and about 70mls of VSOP brandy. anyway i will see how that goes. i know i did it the expensive way this time (lessons learnt) and will let you know how i go with getting some decent bulk stuff for 'top up' time. Bulk S&K might be the go i think, i checked their website.
i had an initial taste with this mix and its gonna need some time (well thats y i bought the barrel) hope i havent completely stuffed it?! i chose those ports as they werent that old so to speak.
hopefully it starts to mellow in 6 mths - 12mths. i hope adding the brandy wasnt a mistake as it was quite pronounced on my initial 1st sip
i'll also be weary not to leave it too long as i know my barrel is small and would hate for it to become too oaky
oh well time for it to rest...will report back in 6 -12mths! we'll see how it goes.
dkw wrote:Talijancich are great, they sell quite a range of fortifieds. Try their '1962' Solero while you're there.
There used to be a winery on the main road where you could take your own container and they would fill it for you. Might have been Twin Hills, or Highway Wines? Compared with Talijancich though, you may be testing the abilities of your barrel a bit more
As for Muscats, the Seppelt range is not a bad start, and try their Tokays too.
Cheers,
Dave.
Highway wines still do bulk port as far as I know. I used to go there every now and then to sample their older ports and liqueur sherry.
Davo wrote: Do you mean from grapes on the vine or putting bulk port in a barrel?
I mean take a fermented wine - no spirit added and then add spirit then stick it in a barrel.
With the bulk Muscats/Tawny's - what changes does this bulk wine undergo in the barrel - apologies for the stupid questions, but trying to absorb as much as possible and google does not return all that much about it all.
Davo wrote: Do you mean from grapes on the vine or putting bulk port in a barrel?
I mean take a fermented wine - no spirit added and then add spirit then stick it in a barrel.
With the bulk Muscats/Tawny's - what changes does this bulk wine undergo in the barrel - apologies for the stupid questions, but trying to absorb as much as possible and google does not return all that much about it all.
M
[/quote]
OK. A simple explanation. I'M no expert but...
Well for starters fermented grape juice (table wine) is not used to make fortifieds. The grapes are left to hang on the vine for longer than those used for table wines, often quite shrivelled when picked, and hence have a much higher sugar content and a much lower water content and are therefore much more concentrated in flavour etc.
If they are fermented at all it is usually for only a very brief period to gain extra colour/tannin/flavour from the skins in the case of port, but white fortifieds such as muscat/tokay are usually pressed straight away and fortified with whatever spirit has been chosen. The high spirit level stops all further ferment and maintains a high sugar content in the wine.
The product is then run into (usually old) barrels kept in a warm area, sometimes hot, which add further complexity and further concentration.
I will be using the barrel for pre bought tawnys and left over wine dregs, not making port from scratch. Can you leave the port in the barrel too long?
