Port

[david_the_greek]

Alright guys, I went to Napa on vacation and I LOVED IT! The wine was great (oh the pinot and cabs!), the food was awesome and the B&B my girlfriend and I stayed at was even better. I also drank a fair amount of port during my stay. Now I know thats not exactly what they are known for but I did have a few that I thought were just incredible. I had not had a port with those kinds of amounts of flavors. Sigh... But anyways has anyone tried any port kits? I would LOVE to have a port that I could (somewhat) call my own. On a side note, for any and all of you who want to get away to wine country, don't be scared of Napa. I went during off season so A) crowds= nonexistent B) restaurants didn't require reservation C) you could really explore and/or get more personal attention at the wineries and D) the rates were CHEAP compared to normal. I have to give a good review to these guys; http://www.theinnonfirst.com/ I got $1000 worth of nights for $500 and they went out of there way at every possible moment for my GF and I. Even going so far as to drive us personally to wineries when we .... couldn't quite get around on our own

 

[Guinness71]

Hmm.. Might have to book a trip.. Thanks for the review!

 

[tonyyy_11111]

i would think you would first have to decide which type of port you have perference . i have a selections in the works and it seems more in tune with a vintage port .. also have a celar crafts . it seems more like a ruby both will be split in thirds .. one gal getting nothing one getting 4 oz or brandy maybe more and the last with some augardente apppox 4 oz .. there is also the chocolate ports but that is not for me since they are not like any real port you will try think they are more of a candy in a cup hahaha

 

[summersolstice]

I've tried a couple of kit ports and I've also made what the previous poster described as "candy in a cup" though, despite the obvious bias in the remark, I wonder if he's ever tried one. The Orange Chocolate Port I made took second at the state fair and, due to their popularity and from giving them away, I only have about 8-10 375s left from the kit I made. While some may dismiss desert-style wines (some of the rarest and most expensive wines in the world), Port is also a sweet wine and likely has as much residual sugar as the "candy in a cup". The deep ruby red color and the 15% - 18% alcohol content make the orange and raspberry chocolate Port-style wines a satisfying after dinner libation. To each his own.

 

[Freezeblade]

You can pretty much make any wine kit into port if you really wanted to, just do your math right. Brandy is added to the fermenting wine (after the heavy fermentation is over, a few days) to make the abv above the toxicity level of the yeast, around 18-20% I've been planning on making a "port style" Cider with apple brandy in this same way. Experimentation is needed though.