Zort, not Port; we don’t make Port in America, that’s a Portugal thing. Our Zort is actually closer in style to a Banyul from France. “Banyuls (French pronunciation: [baɲuls]) is a French appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) for a fortified apéritif or dessert wine made from old vines cultivated in terraces on the slopes of the Catalan Pyrenees in the Roussillon county of France, bordering, to the south, the Empordà wine region in Catalonia in Spain. It belongs to the category of vin doux naturel, a type of fortified wine in which fermentation is stopped by adding alcohol, preserving natural grape sugars.” (According to Wikipedia’s description of Banyuls.)
We are American winemakers making American wines. We make Angelicas, the fortified wine unique to the USA but in many ways, not unique.
Many places make fortified wines, wines made by adding ethanol distilled from wines. In France, they refer to them as vin doux naturel; Spain has sherries, Malaga, and Vermu. Portugal has Port, Madeira, moscatel, and carcavelo. The history of fortified wines goes back over 1,000 years. Bless those Muslim alchemists who figured out al-kuhl, the distillation of alcohol from wine.
In California, missions produced wine and brandy to sell for school funding. Communion wine was sweet fortified wines that came to be known as Angelica. Often aged in barrels for years. Originally, it was grape juice straight from the press (white or pink) brought to 20% alcohol by adding brandy. Modern winemaking requires that the juice ferment slightly (1/2% or more) before adding the grape spirits.
Our Angelicas ferment for half or more of the time to develop the aromas that yeast unveils. We make both a golden version, Angelica MRS, and a ruby-hued version based on Zinfandel, Zort. The name pokes fun at those who claim to make Port in America.
Zort is because I love Barbara. After marrying me, she volunteered to do everything involving computers. All the records, reports, legal compliance, and finances. Consequently, when she asked if I knew how to make wine to sip while dark chocolate melts on your tongue, the answer was “Yes, I do; I’ll get right on it!”
But wines like this take a few years. At first I used Cabernet Sauvignon, which we had in our first vineyard. When we bought this farm, Zinfandel was planted in the first round in 2005 to make this wine, as well as play in our Rosé and Paradisos Red. Zort’s first vintage was 2008.
Zinfandel starts as a raspberry-aroma wine with moderately high acidity and low bitterness and astringency.
We stop the fermentation at about 90% with the addition of 168-proof unaged grape brandy made from our grapes.
It macerates for a few days before being pressed, then goes into 20-year-old barrels for 2-3 years. We don’t want to muck up the wonderful fruit aromatics with lumber from new barrels. Not super sweet; Barbara doesn’t care for the “cough-syrup” style of many things called “Port.”
This version is a blend of vintages: 2016, which was Zinfandel with a bit of Teroldego, and the 2017, which was entirely Zinfandel. I thought the wine was better as a blend than as separate wines.
We put this in 750-ml bottles with screw caps (the best closure) since, after opening, they can be left on the counter for months and still be lovely. It costs more to bottle in 375 ml. The small bottles are more expensive than 750, and you need to spend more to set up a smaller label.
For some reason, that time in the barrel pulls some vanillin from the wood, and a bit of chocolate-like aroma develops. No flavors added: Zinfandel, Teroldego, grape spirits, mature barrels, and, most importantly, time.
Bottled in 2019, it is now well-evolved and ready to drink. The Zort from 2008, our first, is still beautiful and being hoarded.
