What's the point in all the rubies?

[KillerB]

A discussion started up in this tasting note about Dow having an abundance of rubies and nobody knowing why. Rather than having it lurking in a TN, I thought that I'd bring it out into the open as a proper topic.

We identified: Trademark; Renown; Master Blend; Midnight; and Fine Ruby. However there is more than a suspicion that Renown has replaced Fine Ruby.

Truth be told - who cares? Not sure if I've tried Master Blend (sounds like a coffee) but the rest are all much of a muchness with Midnight being black. Trying rubies from other producers doesn't inspire me to the point of exuberance either but they all make at least two and sometimes more - I seem to remember Warre's had another one as well as Heritage and Warrior.

I have nothing against either of these two producers, in fact they are two of my favourites, but other than marketing I can see no need for all the different slugging Ports.

[uncle tom]

I suspect it comes down to supermarket pricing strategies.

If, say, Dow sell Master Blend to Tesco, Renown to Asda and Midnight to Sainsbury's, they are not going to be looking over each other's shoulders so much to see what the competition is selling the same product for, trying to undercut each other, and then whinging at the Sym's to cut the price..

The producers that have more than one brand name can also play similar games. I remember observing in VNG that the Croft standard tawny was extremely similar to the Taylor offering. The difference, I was informed, was the price..

Tom

[KillerB]

So, as I thought - Marketing. Yeuchh!

I would be a lot more accepting if there was a notably different profile for each Port, say a sweeter one, a more herbal one, a dry one, even a 'mix it with Red Bull' one. C'est la vie.

[jdaw1]

‟I would be a lot more accepting if there was … even a 'mix it with Red Bull' one.” Yikes! Isn’t it called Croft Cerise, or something?

[JacobH]

It’s quite interesting reading through Dow’s website to see what they say the differences are.

Their premium ruby seems to be the Trademark which they hint is mostly made from grapes grown at Bomfim and Senhora de Ribeira. It’s apparently unfiltered and is slightly stronger than their other Rubies at 20%.

The Master Blend looks like it’s just made out of random vats of stuff that TPF has available (at least that’s how I interpret ‟the wines for this blend are carefully selected from lots of wines ageing in Dow’s cellars in Oporto”).

The Midnight is designed to be black with trendy packaging and there’s also a standard ruby (called ‟Fine”) which apparently one a Gold Medal in 1997. There’s no mention of a Renown Port...

Having a look at the other sites, it quite a few of the premium Ruby Reserves (the ones with the silly names: Bin 27; Warre Warrior; Graham’s 9 Grapes &c.) are single quinta or nearly single quinta products, whilst the second-tier reserve and the standard rubies are a blend of other wines. A lot do seem to be missed off websites altogether, though, which presumably means they are just rebranded versions of the other products.

[uncle tom]

It gets even more confusing - I've just seen a Master Blend LBV in Tesco...

Tom

[RonnieRoots]

Oh dear... That would only make sense if it's unfiltered, as opposed to the regular Dow LBV.

[Conky]

Could I offer an off the wall answer to why a company may have so many types of Rubies.....because they are not that good.

Who doesn't look at such bottles and then slide a glance at the nearby bottles that you know are clearly better. Yet you only want a cheap glass for a few nights (And I know it is only a glass or two a night, as the chemical dryness overpowers the enjoyment). So you look for a bottle you haven't tried before, hoping for a better bottle than it's ruby neighbours, or previous versions. Not that you ever succeed of course.

[KillerB]

Could I offer an off the wall answer to why a company may have so many types of Rubies.....because they are not that good.

Who doesn't look at such bottles and then slide a glance at the nearby bottles that you know are clearly better. Yet you only want a cheap glass for a few nights (And I know it is only a glass or two a night, as the chemical dryness overpowers the enjoyment). So you look for a bottle you haven't tried before, hoping for a better bottle than it's ruby neighbours, or previous versions. Not that you ever succeed of course.

Aha - another conspiracy theory - love it.

[Alex Bridgeman]

There might be something in that though, the basis behind the psychology of why most people can't play chess well. You look at your options and examine a few in detail and dismiss them because the outcome that you anticipate is not good - so you then choose another option at random which you don't think through in the same detail.

As in "I've tried A and B and C and D and I don't like them. Stuff it, the label on X is horrible but maybe the contents are nice".

Of course, this would work well for the producers if the styles of the ports were different in terms of fruit / acid / maturity / tannin balanceas it would mean that people would experiment until they found the style they most enjoyed.

[angeleyes]

Oh dear... That would only make sense if it's unfiltered, as opposed to the regular Dow LBV.

It seems the Dow brand have labelled their LBV as 'Master Blend', the '03 and '04 have been labelled this way. '00 and (I think) '01 were not labelled as such. Interestingly the '04 comes in a 50cl, possibly another tactic to attract shoppers to a lower price (even though it's a smaller bottle!). Also the '04 tastes very different to the '00, the former being a touch too sweet for my liking, and the latter too dry!

[Andy Velebil]

A darn good topic that I somehow missed earlier. I think I can shed some light on why the different names. Many years ago, actually many decades ago, Port producers released Ruby Ports with various funny labels and names. If you visit the IVDP museum in Regua and see their bottle collection you'll understand what I am talking about (when I get home I'll try and post some pics of it). This was done to attract people to the product and the names/labels varied by location sold.

This is a tactic done by many industries. In the US we have a Honda Accord and an Acura TSX cars, same parent company yet Acura is the "premium" brand. Yet in Europe our Acura TSX is labeled as a Honda Accord. Why? I have no idea. Why not just sell it under the Acura label. I can however guess it's all about marketing and pricing strategies. So why get all up in arms that Port producers do it?

Rubies and Tawnys are what sell to most of the world and they are the bread and butter for any Port company. So it's only natural for them to taylor a name or label to a certain market where it may sell better. Some of these are slighty different blends to reflect different tastes, and some of them are exactly the same just with different packaging. In the end it's what sells in a given area that counts.

[Andy Velebil]

Also the '04 tastes very different to the '00, the former being a touch too sweet for my liking, and the latter too dry!

I would hope they taste different, they are very different years