Using Meat to Make Port

[DRT]

The history of Port is full of little stories that have been handed down by mouth from father to son, some of which are legendary. Perhaps the most unbelievable one is the old wife's tale that you cannot make Port without adding meat to the wine. It ay appear paradoxical, even absurd, to think that winemakers actually use meat to make their Port. The information that I obtained as I attempted to get to the roots of this tale was also given to me by mouth, as I spoke to old farmers and shippers, all of whom had retired long ago.

As you might expect, there is some basis to this story although it has been greatly embellished in its telling and one must separate the myth from the fact. The facts are that I have heard everything you could imagine about this matter: that you had to put a cured ham into the casks, that whole sheep were used to improve the wine and other such flights of carnivorous fancy.

As far as I was able to determine, although I could find no written proof of this, was that cow bones, stripped of most of their meat, were used to add body to the wine; in local parlance, to "fix" the wine. One of the principle shippers actually told me that they only stopped this practice in 1970.

Yet another source informed me that bacon was used during treading. Apparently, unsalted slabs of cured bacon were placed in the lagar and were crushed by the workers along with the grapes. The yeasts in the wine would then feed off the fat that would break off from the bacon, making it easier for them to reproduce and thus trigger the fermentation. When the wine was drawn off, all the bacon had disappeared, "devoured" by the yeasts.

Discuss.

[Andy Velebil]

I'm by no means an expert on science, but I would think it's impossible for the yeast to toally consume any and all traces of the meat they put in the lagars.

[RonnieRoots]

Call the Mythbusters.

[JacobH]

As far as I was able to determine, although I could find no written proof of this, was that cow bones, stripped of most of their meat, were used to add body to the wine; in local parlance, to "fix" the wine. One of the principle shippers actually told me that they only stopped this practice in 1970.

At least that sounds plausible as a way of affecting the flavour (or possibly the consistency) of the wine, in a similar way to the addition of berries to improve the colour. Presumably if you boiled the wine, then there would be enough gelatine in the bones to make a jelly! However, I’m not convinced that this is anything more than an embellishment on the above:

Yet another source informed me that bacon was used during treading. Apparently, unsalted slabs of cured bacon were placed in the lagar and were crushed by the workers along with the grapes. The yeasts in the wine would then feed off the fat that would break off from the bacon, making it easier for them to reproduce and thus trigger the fermentation. When the wine was drawn off, all the bacon had disappeared, "devoured" by the yeasts.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I'm sure that gelatin can be used as a fining agent - perhaps meat was used in the production process and had a similar clarifying effect. I'm only speculating, but I can see this being a possibility.