quicksearch cocktails:   search tips

glossary (Por - Pun)

Port-Wine
Port-Wine (Port) comes from Portugal. The wine is only allowed to grow in the lawfully bordered regions of the Douro-Valley, which is situated about 100 kilometres east from Porto (oporto). It is also prescribed how to store it. The wine is only allowed to ripen in the centra storage halls in Vila Nova de Gaia at the left river bank of the Douro-river. Verdelho, Cao, Francisca, Mourisca, Tourigs and Bastardo are the used kinds of vine. The wine-law regulates the growing production, storage and export. About one third of the yearly produced amount can call itself Port. Another part of the production is distilled to spirit, which again is used to add it to Port-Wine for filling up reasons. Only after many quality and amount controlls, each bottle of Port gets the state's seal "Instituto do vinho do Porto" with a consecutive number.
Production
Brandy is added to the cider, which starts fermenting and is mostly made from blue grapes. The mixture should consist of five parts of cider and one part of brandy. This stops the fermentation. A remaining sweetness remains.
Ripening
Storage in Bodegas or Lodges (huge storage halls) is the place Vila Nova de gaia is prescribed for the ripening of the wine.
Storage
It can take two to five years. After about 10 years, the word "Velho" (old) is mentioned on the label.
Types:
According to the quality, there are following descriptions: Vintage Port or Novidadce: This is a vintage's port, which is not blended with port-wine of other vintages. It is very heavy and 'oily'. The vintage is bottled after the irst fermentation, the second fermentation happens in the bottle. The best vintage's ports are 1945, 1948, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970 and 1972. Vintage port has to be decanted before it is served, because a lot of Depot develops. Late bottle vintage: It is similar to Vintage Port, but is bottled when it is totally ripe. It is also lighter than Vintage Port. Vintage Character: It is lightert than Vintage Port. Fin Tawny: is a selection of the taywny Port. Tawny Port: It is the standard product. It gets its muddy brown colour from being stored in oak barrels for a longer time. Tawny Port is lighter than all other port-wines. Ruby Port: This young port-wine is very dark in its colour and fruity to sweet in its taste. Wines of different vintages are blended to produce Ruby Port. It does not improve itself in the bottle anymore. Ruby Port has been a very popular drink called "Port and Lemon drink" in English pubs in former times. White Port: This port-wine is produced from white grapes and is very dry compared to red port-wines. It is served cool as an aperitif. Crusted Port: This heavy port-wine is blended from a few vintages, but since 1984, it has not been allowed to be produced. There are many additional descriptions of port-wine according to taste, colour and storage time.
Extra dry, extra secco, extra trocken Dry, secco, Dry finish, meio doce, halbtrocken Medium sweet, meio doce, semi-sweet Rich, doce, sweet Very sweet, lagrima, very sweet
Full, rentinto, dark red Red tinto, red Ruby, tinto aloirado, rubin red Tawny, aloirado, light coloured (light reddish brown), Pale white - storage in barrels for about three years, Straw coloured white 3- 5 years of storage in barrels Golden white 6- 12 years of storage in barrels Vintage Port from 10 years of storage in barrels
Colheita: additionsl description of vintage-wines, only at production-filling ups
known types of port-wine
Croft, Dow, Sandeman, Cockburn, Ferreira, Burmester, Warre, Taylor, Noval, Barro, Kopke, Calem, Mackenzie, Smith Woodhouse, Tuke Holdsworth, Offley, Gonzales Byass, Barros Almeida, Wies & Krohn, Fuerherd, Silvia Graham's, Quarles Harris, Niepoort's.

Port-wine
The history of the today's known port-wine dates back to 1726, when the first association of the Oporto-wine-traders was founded. It was tried to change the wine of the country suitable to the taste of the English customers. To do so, the simple red Douro-wine was strengthened with brandy, because it was believed that it could compete with other spirituous liquors in England that way. The wine-trader did not know, that the addition of alcohol disturbs the wine development and that a totally different type of wine is produced. In 1756, the Douro-Wine-Company was founded. It set the borders of the port-wine-area in the north of Portugal by law. It was the first known bordered vineyard region. The production methods for port-wine were regulated for the first time, as well. These regulations were modified at the end of the 19th century and since that time they hardly changed. Port-wine only comes from a geographically strict bordered region, called the Alto-Douro-Region at the banks of the upper stream of the river Douro in Portugal. The border is overlooked by an unbroken control system. Only wine growers, who are members of 'Casa do Douro' are allowed to sell products to Vila Nova de Gaia, which is situated opposite of Porto at the mouth of the river Souro. This association regulates the wine-amounts, a wine grower is allowed to supply, according to strict controlling. Only in a bordered area in Vila Nova de Gaia storage halls for products on purpose to be exported are allowed to be run and only from there it is allowed to export the port-wine years later. A state-institute named 'Instituto do Vinho do Porto' hands out a document of origin to the exporters, which is necessary for the port-wine to leave the town. Every bottle, which is filled up there, gets the banner of the 'Instituto do Vinho do Porto'. It is glued on top of the bottle's cork having consecutive numbers. Two bottles always stay with the Instituto, safe of course, to prove the quality if necessary. The countryside of Alto-Douro is unique in the world. Vines are growing there under difficult conditions on steam terraces. The vine-roots have to go very deep into the sometimes vertical, crumbled slate to find water. Many vineyards had to be bombed into the steam slopes. Out of the huge stones, wine growers built up thousands of resting walls to strengthen the non-natural terraces and the hard pullable soil. Slate rock can be found all over the world but its plates always break horizontal. Only in the Douro-region they break in an angle of 60 to 90 degrees towards the centre of earth. That leads closer to the secret of port-wine: at daytime the sun cannot get very deep into the slate rock and the soil, at cool night time the slate becomes a warmth-pillow for the vines. This way the slate causes additional hours of ripening for the grapes. The grape harvest starts at the end of September. The grapes are filled into big baskets and are quickly moved to the press-house. It is necessary to hurry, because the hot climate starts a pre-fermentation when the grapes are fully ripe. After the grapes are pressed, fermentation starts, supported by yeast, which is on the skin of the berries. The fermentation goes on until the wine grower stops it by adding alcohol. This point of time depends on what quality of the wine is wanted to be reached. The earlier alcohol is added, the sweeter the wine becomes, the later it is added, the drier is the wine. The wine stays calm in big containers and remains in its growing area until spring time. Then it will be filled carefully into big barrels, so that the remains stay in the first barrel. Alcohol is added again while the process takes place. Afterwards the barrels are taken to the storage halls - the Lodges - of the company in Vila Nova Gaia. In former times the barrels were transported in high buuilt ships. Today trucks are used to do the job. Every port-wine-company buys different wines to compose the wanted variations in huge blending barrels. Its final ripeness takes place in little oak barrels. More than 20 different red and white kinds of vine grow in the Douro-region. Therefore there have been red and white port-wines for ages. Always different port-wines (different in kind of vine and vintages) are mixed together. They ripen in storage halls, which are not air-conditioned, in comparison to the Bodegas in Spain. Port-wines, almost without any exception, get their ripeness by being stored in barrels, therefore their general name "Wood-port". Often a sign of "Matured in Wood" can be found on the label. Only a few ports, the most valuable ones, the 'Vintage Ports', ripen in bottles. There are different grades of colours within red and white ports, too. The colour of port does not say anything about its quality, but it might give conclusions about the age. Red port-wine becomes paler as years pass by, white port on the other side becomes more intensive. Therefore, it is possible, that wines of the two basic colours might look similar at a high age. An oxidation of the natural colour substances shows a clear change, as well. This oxidation is especially strong, when the wine gets in touch with air while it is stored ageing in barrels. 'Vintage Ports' have been stored in barrels for two years before being filled up in sealed bottles to ripen without getting in touch with air. They lose colour much slower. Wood Port stays in barrels for its entire ripening process. While the process, the port changes colours, which is important to name the kind. The new colour varies from purpur (young wines) to pure red (= 'Ruby') and from red to orange (= 'Tawny'). Ruby Port is the best known port at all. It is blended from wines of a few vintages, which means, that older port is mixed with younger port and has to ripen in barrels for at least three years. Good Ruby stays in the barrel up to eight years. Ruby is always a very robust wine with a strong colour and fully smell and a slightly freshness in its taste. Ruby Ports should be consumed soon after bottling, storage does not improve this kind of port. Tawny Port is a product blended from wines of different vintages, before it starts ripening in barrels. Ripening takes about eight years, better Tawnys ripen up to 12 years. The port loses its dark colour in that time and becomes reddish-brown to golden. A Tawny is smoother and milder in its taste than Ruby is. It has a light, but full aroma, similar to nut aroma. This port should be consumed soon after bottling as well. Vintage Port: When the weather is optimal in the Douro-Valley and an excellent harvest was possible, then a few port-houses produce Vintage Ports. These are wines, which are only blended of wines of the same vintage and which ripen for years after being bottled. Vintage Ports, which are older than 30, 40 or even more years, have a not comparable character and belong to the best wines in the world. Already in the middle of the 18th century Vintage Ports were produced. The first big Vintage Port was the one of vintage 1775. Lawfully allowed descriptions are: "Type Vintage", "Vintage Stil" and "Vintage Character". But wines having these mentioned additions on the label are not "Authentic" vintages, they are not allowed to have a vintage-sign of it. Vintage Port usually contains a lot of Depot. Therefore, the bottle should be placed calmly for one day and additionally it should be filled into a glass-carafe some time before it is served. The depot is absolutely neutral in its taste, but it muddies the beautiful shine of the wine. Crusted Ports are blended wines made from different kinds and stored in barrels for five years. While the product ripens in the barrel, the wine develops a very thin crust, which is removed in the bottling process. Wine ages much quicker in wood than in bottles, therefore crusted ports ripen faster than vintage ports. Crusted port is similar to 'Late Bottled Vintage'. Late Bottled Vintages are vintage wines, which were stored in barrels for five years or even longer before being bottled. They already lose colour through the bottling process. Their thick substances remain at the bottom of the barrel, while they are still part of the vintage on the other hand. Late Bottled Vintages are a bit lighter than normal vintage-wines, but they look much older than vintage wines. Recently 'Port Wines with the date of harvest' are offered too. These are for example Colheitas. In difference to Vintage Port, Colheita is bottled very late. Colheitas are fine, but much lighter port wines than the heavy, very famous Vintage Ports. Colheita Port is filtrated before being bottled; therefore it has no Depot, Colheita labels contain information about vintage and year of bottling. It ripens in barrels sometimes for decades, which is a very long time in comparison to the short term ripening of Late Bottled Vintage. White Port is produced from white grapes, similar to the production of Tawny Port. There are sweet white ports, whose fermentation is stopped by adding alcohol at an early stage. They are blended and ripened in barrels like red ports. Besides, there are also dry white ports, whose sugar has changed to alcohol nearly totally, because the fermentation is not disturbed through additions of alcohol. Dry white ports should be served cool. Alcohol content of port-wines is mostly between 19 and 21 %.

Pot Still
Distillation instrument to produce Whisky.

Preparation and smoking of a cigar
(according to Zino Davidoff)
The cigar is placed in between thump and pointer finger. It is rolled in between the fingers, but only slightly without to much pressure and mashing it. The covering leave is controlled and the whole shape of it, too. When the mouth-piece is closed, as in many cigars, is has to be cut open, either with the finger-nail or teeth or with the help of an instrument. When a barman has to prepre a cigar for a customer, he/ she uses a cigar-cutter or a cigar scissors. The cigar-cutter cuts the cigar for half a centimetre. This allows a bigger smoke.circulation, than the straight cut with the scissors. Law of cutting is to cut not to deep and to cut the opening in proportion to the size of the cigar. The smoke has to pass ample but not to much. If needed it can be cut further later on. The moisture degree is important, too. When the cigar is to dry, it is wise to wet the mouth-piece with the lips. Otherwise the valuable covering-leave might be destroyed. The lightning end is warmed up for a few seconds being hold above a match-flame. The suphur-head of the match has to be burned down already. Afterwards, the cigar is placed in the mouth and lightened again with a second match. The flame should be small. It gets about one centimetre close to trhe lightning end. The cigar is hold a bit slopping down in the mouth. While making small puffs, the cigar is slightly turned with the fingers above the flame. That causes a regular embers , which is a few milimetres deep. It is possible to use "Fidibus" made of cedar-paper, a wood-stick or a lightner, as well instead of matches, especially sandel-wood ones. Petrol-lightners should not be used.
A cigar is not turned down like a cigarette in the ashtray, but it is lied down in the ashtrayer, because it stops burning down itself, caused by the concentrated tar-substances. When the cigar burned out while still smoking, it can be relighted imitately, if two thirds of the cigar are not burned down yet, because then it contains more and more nicotine and tar and gets stronger. Individually the band of the cigar can be removed while smoking. In former times, the band had the function of glueing the covering leave, but this is not the case any longer.

Proof
In former times the amount of spirits was called Proof in Great Britain, Canada and US. Just recently these countries decided to use the expression Vol. % for the amount of alcohol, as well. Proof-degrees are not used any longer therefore we will not explain the complicated calculation. But please realize that English and American Proof you might find on bottles with an old label, are different, Whisky of 43% alcohol is about 75 proof in England, but 86 proof in America.

Punt e Mes - Italia
This Bitter-Aperitif is made of wines and different herbs and extracts of the warmood herb. Its colour is brown, 20 Vol.-%. Product of the family Carpano, Turin.

Punt e Mes
The history of Punt e Mes dates back to the year of 1870: The House Carpano, founded in 1786, was the first producer of Vermouth. Carpano ran a liqueur-pub at the Piazza Castello, close to Turin's stock exchange, where bankmen and brokers usually had a drink and went on with their businesses while having a glass of Vermouth. Out of the voices-noise, the barman heard now and then the words "Punt e mes", which meant the rise of the stock exchange courses for anothner half a point. When Carpano introduced another product to the market, which was a vermouth, being a bit more acid than the other offered "Classico", it was decided to use the common stock exchange expression as the new name. Alcohol content: 16.5 %.