vintage Port 201sized glasses, filled to the brim. Although Port is generally served after a meal and therefore
drunk in smaller quantities than the average red or white wine, it should still be served
in reasonably capacious glasses, filled to a maximum level two-thirds from the brim. This
leaves plenty of space for the Port to be swirled and aired in the glass so that the aromas
can be appreciated to the full. The Port and Douro Wine Institute (IVDP) have their
own recommended glass, designed by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. It is tulip-
shaped with a square stem. An indent marks the position where it should be held.
decanting port
Vintage Port is one of few wines to be bottled without any fining or filtration.
Consequently, after around five years in bottle, a substantial amount of sediment begins
to form. This is not like the fine-grained sediment that appears in a bottle of mature
Claret or Burgundy, but a heavy ‘crust’ that sticks to the side of the glass and slides slowly
to the base of the bottle when stood upright.
Decanting vintage Port (along with crusted and bottle-matured LBV) is a relatively
straightforward procedure requiring only a steady hand and reasonably good light. The
traditional use of a candle to illuminate the neck of the bottle adds a certain romance
but as most vintage Ports are bottled in opaque, black glass to protect the wine from the
light during storage, it is of limited effect. Good background light is, however, useful to
illuminate the neck of the decanter as the wine is being poured.
Ideally, the bottle should be stood upright some two or three hours before decanting
(although there are many spontaneous parties at quintas in the Douro where a bottle of
vintage Port is opened and decanted at short notice without detriment to the wine). If a
wax seal covers the cork, a few sharp raps with the handle of the corkscrew will cause it to
break away and fragment. More challenging are the thick plastic capsules used in the UK
in the mid-1960s, which require a Stanley knife and a great deal of patience to remove.
The cork should then be eased slowly from the bottle, causing the minimum of
disturbance to the wine. In the case of older vintages this can be quite difficult as the cork
will often break where it fans out about three-quarters of the way down the neck of the
bottle. It may therefore take two or more attempts to remove the cork in its entirety and
fragments will fall into the wine. A decanting funnel equipped with a fine mesh screen or
a clean nylon stocking will catch the pieces of cork. Always use a good corkscrew with a
sharp point and an open helix as cheaper examples with a solid ‘worm’ will pull the core
from a soft or spongy cork.
If the bottle has been shaken and the crust disturbed, leave it standing upright for
thirty minutes after pulling the cork for any loose sediment to settle. Then, keeping the
label or splash of whitewash uppermost, pour the wine steadily and slowly into a clean,
freshly rinsed decanter. Many wines are tainted by musty decanters and either the Port or
the cork takes the blame. Tilt the decanter as you pour. As the level of wine in the bottle
falls, tiny particles of sediment will start to appear on the side of the decanter. This is the
cue to stop pouring. If the bottle has been handled carefully there will be, at the most,
four centimetres of wine left behind. Pour this into a glass and the wine and sediment