What is White Port?
Port is a typical sweet red, white or rosé wine, served as an aperitif or as a dessert wine.
Another name for port is port wine, of which port is the abbreviation.
How much alcohol is in White Port?
White Port has an alcohol content between 18 and 20 percent.
Which grapes are used for White Port
Well-known grape varieties for the production of port are: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Francisca, Tinto Rouro, Bastardo, Donzelinho Tinto, Mourisco and Malvasia Fina (white port).
How is White Port made?
The mutage technique has been used since the 19th century. This is a technique in which the fermentation process is stopped prematurely by adding extra alcohol, so that not all sugars are converted into alcohol, so that the sweet taste of port is created.
This gives the port an alcohol content of between 18 and 20 percent.
When the grapes arrive from the vineyard, they are not or partially destemmed.
The grapes must be harvested on the same day.
The treading in lagares (low stone troughs made of granite) is still used today in addition to modern vinification systems.
Nowadays there are also machines that do the work of the treaders (human feet).
The pressure breaks the cell wall and thus releases its flavor and color, which is more than essential for port wine.
After a day or two, the alcoholic fermentation occurs, causing the skins to create a blanket (manta) on top of the mass. This provides a protective layer that prevents contact with oxygen.
The manta is regularly immersed to get the extraction as full as possible.
If the must is good after analysis and to the winemaker's liking, the brandy (aguardente) can be added.
This stops the fermentation and the wine can be added from the bottom of the lagaras into the barrel.
This barrel consists of 1/5 wine alcohol which is supplemented with the port wine and thus gets an alcohol percentage of 19% to 20%.