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Of briary fruits.
Background: 'FORTIS' is our name for a style we used to call Port. The home of 'Port' is the Douro valley in Portugal and its outlet Oporto. The Europeans consider it inappropriate that we should be using their place names for our wine styles and so do I.
The grapes that are used to make the original European styles are grown almost exclusively in their place of origin, but the best of them have found their way around the world.
It is not only the grape however, which determines the quality of the wine, but also the climate of the locality where it is grown. It is of particular interest to us to discover how the Portuguese varieties perform in our environment. To this end, stimulated by a run of show successes in the early years and obvious consumer interest, we planted Touriga, Tinta Cao and Souzao. We were excited by the results and finding the wine superior have used them ever since. These particular varieties are very different in their appearance and taste to the Cabernet and Shiraz from which we made our early Ports. The flavours are intense, the colour- especially in the Tinta Cao really inky. We find that the ultimate sugar level in the wine is not as important as the fruit flavours of the grapes themselves. This indicates the strength of character in these rather specialised varieties.
In our choice of fortifying spirit we seek a neutral alcohol that allows the grape room to express itself rather than a low strength brandy that brings in lots of baggage. The young wines are matured in small wood for two years prior to bottling.
Current vintage 2004
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