Varietal
Port is a fortified wine "either red or white" that is created by adding brandy during fermentation to kill the yeasts (arresting fermentation) and produce a very sweet wine that is high in alcohol. Discovery of Port is credited to Englishman from Liverpool who sent his sons to Portugal in search of wine after King William had effectively halted French imports to England with the levy of high taxation. The sons happened upon a monastery where they discovered the abbot adding brandy during rather than after fermentation. The resulting sweet, alcoholic wines were immediately popular in parched England. We have made this port using Petite Sirah, an intensely flavored red varietal noted for its strong tannic structure and inky.

Vinification
Strict tannin management is a must with Petite Sirah. The lots for this wine fermented for five days before being arrested by brandy fortification. The wine was pressed, racked in 4days to barrel and aged for 10 months in older American oak. The wine was bottled, unfiltered. Alcohol 19.0%, T.A. .53, pH 3.74, residual sugar 10.1%.

Tasting Notes
This is a huge and complex wine showing chocolate, blackberry, plum, bramble and spice notes married with mellow American oak vanilla. Reminiscent of vintage ports, ours gets its strong tannic backbone courtesy of the Petite Sirah. Ideal with Asiago and Brie cheeses or with fine dark chocolate.

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