Thanks for the replies. I didn't think about keeping it in a carboy
and sweetening prior to bottling if needed as it ages. No reason why
that can't be done. Except I'll need that carboy. Oh well, I need
another 3 gallon jug anyway ;-)

TA is 0.6%, it tastes all right so we'll work with that. So far I
like it.

Amerine also mentions some ports in California are heated to 120degF
for a few minutes to simulate aging. Anyone have experience with
this? I thought I might try it with 1 of the 3 gallons see what
happens.

Thanks
Steve
Oregon






On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:58:39 -0700, pp > wrote:

>On Jul 1, 8:37 pm, spud > wrote:
>> Made some Plum Port last season, and am getting ready to bottle.
>>
>> A book I have, Amerind and Singleton "Wine an introduction for
>> Americans" says the usual balance of alcohol to sugar is 20 x 7.
>> That is 20% abv and ~ 7deg Brix by hydrometer reading. It alos goes
>> on to say the range of sweetness is 6 to 8 degrees with port wines
>> usually on the low side of that.
>>
>> Does that make sense to port wine makers out there?
>>
>> Also I can fine little about acids. Since port is made it hot
>> regions, is sweet with high alcoho,l is acid much of an issue? Just
>> enough so it's not flabby?
>>
>> Since this is my first port I'm inclined to 'paint by numbers' as I
>> read in the archives that the perception of sweetness will change with
>> age, and I have no experience with that yet.
>>
>> Any pointers, tips, discussion is appreciated.
>
>Acid should be lower than for red table wines - the base for port is a
>red wine made in a hot region and the must gets diluted with alcohol,
>so ideally you're looking at something around 5 g/L TA, 6 at most. For
>sugar, go with what the other posters said and do it by taste.
>
>Also, you're starting with a very different base material, so that's
>another argument for taking Amerine's numbers only as a rule of thumb.
>
>The advanatage with port is that you can bulk age it for a long time,
>so a good way of doing this is sweeten up in several stages, let sit
>for a month or so and then retaste until you get the balance you want.
>
>Pp