Sparkling Port

Anything to do with Port.
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JacobH
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
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Sparkling Port

Post by JacobH »

The list of Ports which should exist but which do not is very long. It might usefully include a 1970 Quinta do Vesuvio; a 1987 Graham; a Quinta do Noval Garrafeita; and a Quinta do Crasto 20-year-old-tawny.

You might have thought that sparkling Port is not on that list. And you would probably be right. But never mind.

The aim is relatively simple: make something drinkable without encountering the problems that these chaps had. Here, I think, a classic soda siphon has an advantage over a soda stream, since the Port remains pressurised until serving, there is reduced danger of sudden de-pressurisation and explosion.

I used about half-a-bottle of Ruby port. It needs to be well-chilled since one can dissolve a greater amount of gas in cold liquid than warm. I added it to the soda siphon and then charged it with a single 8g cartridge. I shook it thoroughly (whilst counter-intuitive, this is necessary to aid the dissolving of the gas in the liquid) and then added a second 8g cartridge since I have read that alcohol can dissolve less gas than water and so I thought I might need to achieve a higher level of concentration. I then returned it to the fridge for some time.

Perhaps as might be expected, when squeezed out of the soda siphon and into the glass, the result was a very large amount of Port foam which was thick, like the head of a beer. This, however, settled very quickly and the result was a chilled, very lightly sparkling Port which was quite nice to drink.

You might also try squirting the Porty-foam straight into your mouth. But that is another story.

I think, if I was doing this again, I might make it without the long straw in the siphon (which results in the liquid from the bottom of the bottle being pushed out first) so that after charging the siphon and letting it dissolve for some time, I could then de-pressurise the bottle, unscrew the top and pour out the Port. I think it is the sudden de-pressurisation that results in the large amount of foam and, of course, that produces so many nucleation points that a lot of the carbonation is lost. Perhaps one for the Summer?
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jdaw1
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by jdaw1 »

JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020The list of Ports which should exist but which do not is very long. It might usefully include a 1970 Quinta do Vesuvio; a 1987 Graham; a Quinta do Noval Garrafeita; and a Quinta do Crasto 20-year-old-tawny.
Way back in the innocent days of January 2010 some TPF business cards were made. They were in the form of a placemat, with eight ‘fictitious’ Ports: Constantino 1900; Niepoort 1912; Nacional 1927; Fonseca 1935; Ramos Pinto 1966; Churchill 1970; Cockburn 1977; and Vesuvio 1985. The reader may judge whether any of these would have been a greater contribution to humanity than “sparkling Port”. Card background:
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(And I hereby acknowledge the C-Ck dispute.)


JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020You might have thought that sparkling Port is not on that list. And you would probably be right. But never mind.
Sparkling Port is not a good idea.

JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020You might also try squirting the Porty-foam straight into your mouth.
You might. We wouldn’t.

JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020I think, if I was doing this again,
Don’t. And “were”.

JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020Perhaps one for the Summer?
And perhaps not.
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nac
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by nac »

Prior to this thread I’m reasonably confident that the words/terms “squirting” and “Porty-foam” have never been used in the same sentence.

[TPFers now provide numerous literary references to prove me wrong]
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JacobH
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by JacobH »

jdaw1 wrote: 23:56 Thu 12 Nov 2020
JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020The list of Ports which should exist but which do not is very long. It might usefully include a 1970 Quinta do Vesuvio; a 1987 Graham; a Quinta do Noval Garrafeita; and a Quinta do Crasto 20-year-old-tawny.
Way back in the innocent days of January 2010 some TPF business cards were made. They were in the form of a placemat, with eight ‘fictitious’ Ports: Constantino 1900; Niepoort 1912; Nacional 1927; Fonseca 1935; Ramos Pinto 1966; Churchill 1970; Cockburn 1977; and Vesuvio 1985. The reader may judge whether any of these would have been a greater contribution to humanity than “sparkling Port”.
I still have half-a-box of those but had quite forgotten the list of Ports. If memory serves me correctly, we started looking for years that had surprisingly been missed (e.g. Cockburn 1977) but soon had to fall back on Ports which didn’t exist because the shipper / brand was not in business (e.g. Churchill 1970, Vesuvio 1985 etc).
jdaw1 wrote: 23:56 Thu 12 Nov 2020
JacobH wrote: 23:15 Tue 10 Nov 2020I think, if I was doing this again,
Don’t. And “were”.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Take this grammatical error as a cautionary tale of what can happen to you if you drink too much sparkling Port.
nac wrote: 00:17 Fri 13 Nov 2020 [TPFers now provide numerous literary references to prove me wrong]
Do we think Dubveezy, posting in a thread called “Question about the Rug Doctor” in the Truck Mount Forums counts as a literary reference?
My customer today had used a rug doctor along with resolve and a bit of LAs Totally Awesome carpet spray. I guess that explains why when I went to shut down the ol porty foam was shooting out the exhaust 6 miles down the road.
(I take the point that “shooting” is close to “squirting, but no cigar).
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rich_n
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by rich_n »

I initially thought this sounded like a terrible idea, but then noted that it has rather annoyed Julian, so I might be wrong on that front.
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Axel P
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by Axel P »

I was at a Port fare in 2007 when Croft launched the Pink Port and everyone thought "what is next?". Sparkling Port was a hot candidate at this time.

From a business point of view it is vital to swipe the bad dust off the Port's image - make it more female and younger, but keep the good dust, all the great stories and rituals.

The biggest mistake one still makes nowadays when it comes down to Pink Port is the missing follow up, ie have the person who is getting interested in Port drink something proper afterwards.
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JacobH
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by JacobH »

Axel P wrote: 12:05 Wed 18 Nov 2020 I was at a Port fare in 2007 when Croft launched the Pink Port and everyone thought "what is next?". Sparkling Port was a hot candidate at this time.

From a business point of view it is vital to swipe the bad dust off the Port's image - make it more female and younger, but keep the good dust, all the great stories and rituals.

The biggest mistake one still makes nowadays when it comes down to Pink Port is the missing follow up, ie have the person who is getting interested in Port drink something proper afterwards.
These are interesting points. I guess the problem with a sparkling Port is that it is bit like a sparkling full-bodied red wine: whilst there is a long tradition of these, particularly in Australia, I’m not sure how widely they have caught on world-wide. For example, whilst most places in the UK will have a single Lambrusco available, it’s quite rare to see more than that, which is a shame since I quite like a sparkling shiraz when it gets really hot in the Summer.

I guess one recent change is that the champagne houses have started to re-introduce their sweeter blends with the suggestion that you would drink them very cold over ice (presumably to compensate for the sweetness). Products like the Moët & Chandon Ice Impérial or Veuve Clicquot Rich Blanc. A sparkling sweet white Port could play on this image and it’s strength would mean that dilution with ice wouldn’t be a problem.
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uncle tom
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Re: Sparkling Port

Post by uncle tom »

On the subject of heretical port cocktails, I do find that if an old bottle of Claret or Burgundy lacks the body to age with elegance, and instead has become rather harsh; adding a dash of ordinary ruby port can work wonders..
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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