vintagewineandport-blog

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Madeira is a fortified wine which comes in four distinct styles, each delicious in different ways. Generally the style depends on which grape is used; Sercial grapes produce the driest style, Malmsey or Malvasia grapes the richest style, and Bual, and Verdelho medium-rich and medium-dry. The four distinct styles are each complex in their individual ways, and all appeal to different tastes. This gift set is a tasting pack of Blandy’s Madeira, made up of one 10-year-old quarter bottle of each style of their Madeira’s – from driest to richest, Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey. Unfortunately, after the Russian Revolution (where it was seen as a ‘bourgeois’ drink and banned) and Prohibition in America, Russia and America having been until then the two biggest markets for Madeira, this unique wine began to fade from the limelight and is underappreciated today. But Madeira deserves more attention than it gets – it is unique in that it can age (almost) indefinitely. Ageing a bottle of it to the point that it lost its taste would take centuries, so examples of Madeira’s 300 years old can still be bought today and make for an incredible experience. This tasting pack offers up the perfect chance to try all four styles of the wine, from the only producer to have remained in the same family since its creation, Blandy’s. If the dry style is not to your tastes, the rich will be – and many of us prefer to find the balance somewhere in the middle. If you want to expand your horizons and give Madeira a try, or know somebody who would appreciate the opportunity, have a look on our website at www.vintagewineandport.co.uk to find the Blandy’s miniature pack! Or, to read more about the history of Madeira itself as a style and of the industry, have a look at our blog post ‘What Is Madeira?’ at www.vintagewineandport.co.uk/blog/What-is-Madeira #vintagewineandport #madeira #fortifiedwine #winesofinstagram #winegifts #wines #winestagram #blandys #sweetwine #madeiranowordsneeded #madeirawine https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw7PV8bnMc1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hqxguknwy38n

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Late-Bottled Vintage, or LBV, Port is the most popular premium port style in the UK today. A more modern style than Vintage or Tawny, an LBV begins its life the same as a real Vintage Port; the grapes are harvested in one year before undergoing production processes and the resulting wine being transferred to wood. However, this is where the journey diverges: whereas Vintage Port would spend around 18 months in wood before being bottled, LBVs are left in the wood for longer. To be classified as an LBV it must spend 4 to 6 years in wood – up to four times longer than Vintage Port. The longer maturation allows the Port to settle down, creating a wine which is much more accessible at a younger age than a Vintage, not requiring the same decades ageing in-bottle to achieve its peak. LBVs are often seen as the cheaper, comparable alternative to a true Vintage; but much like its regal sibling, the drinking experience varies between producers, areas and years. The style was, as all great things are, discovered quite by accident. Originally wine destined to become a true Vintage, some was left in the barrels for longer than usual due to lack of demand. Since its inception, the style has split into two: filtered and unfiltered. While many see the benefits of filtration before bottling, making the LBV immediately drinkable without the need to decant its contents, wine lovers often note the lighter, less flavourful experience. Unfiltered, on the other hand, requires decanting before drinking – but most agree is worth the extra effort, as not only does it result in an LBV more comparable to a Vintage, but allows further ageing in-bottle. Unfiltered bottles can age for as long as a real Vintage, and often show their benefits in blind tastings where they can be difficult to identify. Most LBVs can last for a week or two after opening without noticeable deterioration. While the style doesn’t often have the grandeur or complexity of its Vintage sibling, the finest boast mature, velvety fruit and a rich, smooth finish. To read more, or have a look at the LBVs we have available, head to www.vintagewineandport.co.uk and check out our blog or our LBV style page! https://www.instagram.com/p/BvhLgyiHatb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13v5a0j9bljec

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Amarone della Valpolicella is a style of red wine that many may have heard of, but relatively few know the methods behind. Production of such a rich, full-bodied dry red requires methods dating back in history to (supposedly) one producer who forgot to remove his grapes from barrel, allowing them to ferment until dry. Not officially recognised until 1953, Amarone della Valpolicella is now renowned globally and makes up a quarter of the total wines produced in the Valpolicella DOC. To create this nectar, however, the grapes undergo a production technique called ‘Appassimento’ – the partial drying before slow pressing and fermentation. The producers usually select older vines for their Amarone; the grapes are harvested ripe in October, later than many wines, and producers carefully select bunches not too close to one another to allow for air flow. Then, the Appassimento process begins: traditionally on straw mats but often nowadays on flat beds in specialised airy lofts, the grapes are left for around 120 days over the entire winter period to dry out. Appassimento usually increases sugar by around 25-30% and concentrates the flavours of the fruit immensely, while reducing malic acid content by two-thirds and water content by 30-40%. After the long desiccation the grapes are pressed in March before being put through a dry, cool fermentation period for over a month, then aged in French or Slavonian oak barrels for up to another 7 years. After all this slow desiccation, fermentation and then aging, the wines are ready and much denser and more textured than other methods would provide – giving us the lovely rich, intense dry wines of Amarone della Valpolicella that we know and love. The entire process takes years but results in wines with rich flavours of cherry, roast coffee and chocolate complimented with lively acidity and high levels of sugar. They’re well worth the wait! To see our full range of Amarone wines, visit our website at www.vintagewineandport.co.uk #vintagewineandport #italianwine #italianwines #winefacts #winegifts #interesting #wineproduction #italian #redwine #amarone #amaronedellavalpolicella https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwAbuBnkKc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i8x4n58j2h5p

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The Holy Crown of Hungary, the Crown of Saint Stephen, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence - no king was regarded as having been truly legitimate without being crowned with it. Although originally straight, it is recognisable now by its distinctly crooked cross – the true story behind which nobody knows, but it is speculated that the chest in which the crown was kept was shut forcefully onto it in the 15th Century. Through its centuries of use, it became not simply ‘a’ crown but ‘the’ crown, representing royal power. As written by Crown Guard Péter Révay, the Hungarian Kingdom came to look not for a crown for their King, but for a King to fit their crown. According to legend, St Stephen I held up the crown before his death, offering it to the Virgin Mary to seal a divine contract between her and the crown. After this, Mary was depicted not only as patron saint for the Kingdom of Hungary but also as queen. King St Stephen, was the first King of Hungary, ruling from the very beginning of the 11th Century. Records of vineyards in Hungary go back as far as the 5th Century, after the Romans brought vines to the area to be met by the wine-making knowledge of Hungarians from the East. During Turkish occupation the Tokaj region became known for its eponymous dessert wines. Tokaji is mentioned in a document of 1571 and was famously christened by Louis XIV “Wine of Kings, King of Wines”. The region has a unique climate; due to the protection of the nearby mountains, long warm autumns and mists that come in from the River Bodrog, the area has perfect conditions for noble rot to create fine, concentrated wines. Nowadays Hungary is also famous for its ‘Bull’s Blood of Eger’, a red blend legend says is named for the soldiers who defended Eger from invasion in 1552. During the siege, the small group of soldiers was supposedly served red wine mixed with a secret ingredient – Bull’s Blood – which allowed them to stalwartly hold out until the invasion forces gave up and left for good. https://www.instagram.com/p/BueHa9WHakL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zbsnp2j710tq

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Being called Vintage Wine and Port certainly gets across what we do in a short but sweet style, (much like a glass of port!), but we often find that people are unaware of the range of spirits we stock too. While we specialise in vintage wines and ports, for obvious reasons, our buyer knows a good bottle when he sees one – whether it be a fine wine or a rare whisky. We have built up quite a collection of fine Scotch whiskies over the years, from producers like Macallan to Knockando and Knockdhu, including the beauty pictured above: a pristine bottle of Knockando’s Extra Old 21 Year whisky, distilled in 1979 and bottled in 2000. Whiskies are generally aged for 12 or 18 years, 21 being the most aged and most rare. This Scotch would be perfect either for a 40th birthday this year, having been distilled 40 years ago, or even for a very deserving 21st given the twenty-one years its contents spent maturing in the oak butts of Scotland. In the late 19th Century, as the Phylloxera outbreak hit mainland Europe and decimated the wine industry, the ‘whisky boom’ began. As production of all wines, including wine spirits like cognac, ground to a halt under this new threat whisky producers stepped up to fill the gap in the market. And fill it they did: the whisky boom began, and distilleries began to pop up around springs and small villages of Scotland left right and centre. One of these, the Knockando distillery, was built in 1898 to the designs of famed whisky architect Charles Doig and named for the village in which it is located. Sitting aside the River Spey, and amidst a beautiful landscape of small hills, Knockando comes from the Gaelic for ‘Little Black Hill’, ‘Cnoc an dhu’. Usually the central piece to J&B’s signature blend, single malts from this producer are reasonably rare but well worth the wait. In 2005, they were officially added to Diageo’s ‘Classic Malts’ range to rub shoulders with other great producers such as Cragganmore, Talisker and Glenkinchie. #vintagewineandport #vintage #whisky #knockando #scotch #scottish https://www.instagram.com/p/BuT7BCXnXQ1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=r0fohoifuxs3

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Cambas is a Greek winery, founded in 1882 and producing wines ever since. The winery’s founder was born in Athens in 1851. In 1869, at the age of eighteen, Andreas Cambas began planning his future in winemaking, renting land from the Greek state on which to produce wine. Not long after, he founded his first distillery, a small operation in his hometown of Athens, and bought 5,000 acres of land for himself in the area of Kantza near the city. Having founded his winery in 1882 it was less than a decade before Andreas began to win awards, purchasing land in France to create cognac for the King of Greece, Georgios I, and receiving gold awards from both Greece and France. Cambas was the forerunner of Greek bottled wine, introducing the world to their…. Loveliness…. With little to no competition. Today the company is kept alive by heir Roxani Matsa and oenologists of the Boutari Winery, maintaining Greek traditions and vinological history in Andreas’ name. This wine was produced in the Peloponnese, a wine region in southernmost continental Greece home to incredibly varied landscapes of mountains, beaches, hillsides and plains. The region is also home to Nemea, known as the most important zone of southern Greece (in the wine industry) for its quality red wines. This bottle hails from the AOC zone of Nemea within the Peloponnese, and is named for the Nemean Lion – a mythological creature and the first of Heracles’ (Hercules’) twelve labours. The lion was said to be invincible; its fur was impenetrable by conventional weapons, and its claws could cut through any armour. After slaying the lion, Hercules drank local Nemean wine made from the Agiorgitiko grape – resulting in the wines made from this grape being known today as the ‘Blood of Hercules’. #vintagewineandport #vintagewines #winefacts #wines #winehistory #winesofinstagram #winestagram #instawine #wine #greek #greekwine #interesting https://www.instagram.com/p/BtwAdbTns27/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1djliku3f2co2

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Fun Fact: The American Declaration of Independence was toasted with glasses of Madeira immediately after signing by the founding fathers. They obviously knew the good stuff! These Madeiras were found by our Wine Buyer the other day, and are in perfect condition – even including their original certificates of authenticity! But what makes a Madeira? Madeira is firstly a Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean, one of Portugal’s two Autonomous Regions along with the Azores. In the same way as all Champagnes come from Champagne and all Bordeaux wines from Bordeaux, all Madeiras come from the island and its neighbour Porto Santo. Interestingly, Madeira is the rocky tip of a massive volcano rising 6km from the ocean floor. This style of wine is unknown by many, but deserves attention – it’s truly unique among its peers as a style capable of ageing (almost) indefinitely. Much like port or sherry, Madeira is a fortified wine, but its production differs as much as the end result itself. Unlike other wines, Madeira is warmed during ageing allowing the development of the smooth and complex flavours they’re so loved for. The process used to give us the lovely wines we know today originated in the adventuring ships of the 15thand 16th Centuries, where it was used as ballast. Upon the ships’ arrival at their destinations, the wine was actually found to taste better after being left for months or years and gently warmed throughout their trans-equatorial journeys. As these fascinating wines were received so well, the warming process became essential to the creation of new Madeiras and led us to our present day production methods. Madeira wine comes in four different styles, each delicious and complex in their own individual ways: dry, medium-dry, medium-rich and rich. The style produced generally depends on which grape is harvested – dry wines are made from the Sercial grape and are great as an aperitif with tapas or salad, whereas the Malmsey or Malvasia grape creates a rich, sweet drink, perfect with desserts. The Madeiras pictured above will be available at www.vintagewineandport.co.uk soon, so keep an eye out! https://www.instagram.com/p/BtoNDGzHyNj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hv49sl96sjf1

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The house Ferreira was first established in 1751 and is among the oldest founding houses, playing an important role in the history and tradition of port production. Famous as an historical figure who introduced several winemaking innovations, cultivating Portuguese wine rather than importing Spanish wine, as was the way at the time, Antonia Ferreira spent her life fighting for the industry as a whole rather than just her own business. She was key in the battle against the phylloxera outbreak which killed the majority of European grapes, travelling to England to learn the latest techniques to fight the pestilence and returning to Portugal with them as well as new production processes and contacts for exporting port. Without ‘Ferreirinha’, as she is affectionately known in Portugal, the port and even the wine industry as a whole would not be the same as it is today. Today, she is regarded as a symbol of strength, and her family House carried on her legacy by continuing to produce high-class port wines to this day. Nowadays, the House is in good hands with winemaker Luís Sottomayor, the two-time winner of Winemaker of the Year for Fortified Wines. With an average critic score of 91/100, Ferreira continues to be a top-quality House. Turning 204 this year, this specific bottle was harvested in 1815, a terrific year for history buffs: Interestingly, it was the year US President James Madison rebuilt the Library of Congress with Thomas Jefferson’s 6,500 book collection and saw the first flat horse race at Cheltenham. However, more importantly, this was the year of Napoleon Bonaparte’s return; Escaping from banishment on Elba, he and his supporters returned to Paris to begin his Hundred Days Rule until he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and entrusted to the British government for exile to St Helena in a convention signed by the UK, Austria, Russia and Prussia. This wine has survived all that history to be with us here at VWP today! If this bottle takes your fancy, you can find it at https://www.vintagewineandport.co.uk! #vintagewineandport #portwine #port #oldwine #oldbottles #winefacts #winehistory #vintage #1815 #interesting #vintageport https://www.instagram.com/p/BtgRZEOnQGq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=16x0jbr88g8xg

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Different sizes of bottles are known by traditional names, so we’ve made up a list of some of the most common. Beginning with the smallest, a Quart is aptly named as it contains only a quarter of the volume of a standard bottle – usually around 18.75cl, or one and a half standard glasses of wine. Similarly simply named, a Half Bottle is just that: a bottle half the size of the standard. At 37.5cl, this is enough for three standard glasses of plonk. One standard bottle, on shop shelves everywhere, is 75cl. A Magnum is double this; at 1.5L, they contain around twelve glasses. From here on out the names are less practical and more Biblical, all derived from famous (or infamous) figures found religious texts or even one from Greek mythology. Next up from the Magnum is the Jéroboam at 3L, followed by the Réhoboam at 4.5L. Jéroboam was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel, after it seceded from the larger kingdom to create Réhoboam’s domain too: the southern Kingdom of Judah. The 6L bottle is called a Methuselah or other variations on his name. The oldest living figure in the Bible, he died at 969. At 9L we have the Salmanazar, named for an Assyrian king who invaded the Kingdom of Israel. A 12L bottle is called the Balthazar, named for one of the three wise men of the Nativity story. A Nebuchadnezzar weighs in at 15L, its namesake infamous for sacking Jerusalem and destroying the First Temple erected by Solomon. Coincidentally, the Solomon (generally used for Champagne) or Melchior, is the next size up at 18L. Solomon was the son of David, and Melchior the eldest of the three wise men. The largest, at 30L, or forty standard bottles, is referred to as either the Melchizedek or the Midas. The former was a priest of El Elyon (God Most High), the latter a king of Greek mythology. Midas is said to have prayed for the golden touch, and received his gift – only to turn first his daughter, then anything he ate to gold, according to Aristotle leading to his death by starvation shortly afterwards. Visit our blog at www.vintagewineandport.co.uk to read the full version! #vintagewineandport #interesting #winefacts https://www.instagram.com/p/BtWVfHQn464/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=is8zdkg6ixdb

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Sometimes even the best wine experts can be left wondering... today is one of those days. This bottle arrived with us yesterday afternoon, after our Director and Wine Buyer found a case of them at auction. However, the wine inside is a total mystery to us! All we have been able to establish so far from research is that the wine was bottled by ‘de Gernon, Desbarats & Co.’, a company responsible for bottling various wine styles from the late 19th Century to the early 20th, this 1929 bottling being the most recent we could find. The label tells us the wine is from the Bordeaux region, Ludon-Médoc specifically, and bears the coats of arms of the Gernon family and (presumably) the Desbarats. As this is from the Médoc, we can assume the wine to be a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the two staple grapes used for red wines in the Bordeaux region, although rarely Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec are added too. These bottles will be available at www.vintagewineandport.co.uk soon, so have a look and if any of you have an inkling as to the story behind this wine, please let us know! https://www.instagram.com/p/BtS7W7SnLmx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=a0rg7eozvh4c

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Valentine’s Day is a celebration with a fascinating, mixed and mysterious background. The most widely accepted legend of Saint Valentine is the story of a priest in Rome in the 3rd century, who defied his emperor and was put to death. According to legend, he was the first to ever send a valentine – restoring the sight of his judge’s daughter, then sending her a letter signed ‘Your Valentine’ before his execution. Lupercalia is often cited as the inspiration for the celebrations we know now: at the ides of February, the Romans held a festival of fertility involving drunkenness, debauchery, and the whipping of young women with goat and dog hides in order to increase fertility. Ostensibly, the young women then put their names into a bowl for bachelors to draw from, pairing with their match for the night or, surprisingly often, life. Later, in the 5thcentury, Pope Gelasius I combined Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day in order to give new meaning to old rituals and expel the pagan aspect of the festival. Coincidentally, around the same time was a celebration named ‘Galatin’s Day’, Galatin translating to ‘lover of women’. This was celebrated by Normans and may well have become another addition to today’s Valentine’s Day given the centuries of interbreeding and their similar-sounding names. Centuries on, the holiday was romanticised by figures like Chaucer and Shakespeare, boosting its popularity throughout Europe and instigating the Middle-Aged fashion of giving handmade paper cards to loved ones. Later still, the tradition found its way to the New World, with Hallmark beginning to mass produce cards in 1913 – leading us to the celebrations we see today. At www.vintagewineandport.co.uk we have plenty of Valentine ideas for Him and Her, to help you find the perfect gift this Valentine’s Day! #vintagewineandport #winegifts #valentines #valentinesdaygift #valentinesgift #winesofinstagram #winestagram #instawine #wine https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOdpzEnzpP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8hc9ydvoylcq

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Who are Taylor’s? Taylor’s, a Port House established centuries ago back in 1692, is to many the first and greatest name in port wine. It has spent its career with the same family at its helm, and they remain to this day in roles at the head of every area of the firm – which is saying something, as Taylor’s focuses its attention on every aspect of production, from planting the vines to bottling the wines! Where other Houses might branch into sherries or Madeiras, the House of Taylor’s has spent its entire life thus far focusing solely on its port wines, finding the very best methods of production and sticking to them throughout their long history. With three iconic estates, Terra Feita, Vargellas and Junco, the vineyards encompass a huge area and various different styles of wine – each estate is distinct from the others, with different strengths and styles to complement each other brilliantly. It’s partly because of this that the House is often known as the ‘one to beat’ when it comes to vintage ports; with their iconic blends of the very best from each estate, a bottle of Taylor’s vintage port is always unique and always among the best available. The House doesn’t just produce great old styles of wine, though; the style of LBV or Late Bottled Vintage was created by their current chairman back in 1970 and to this day remains an incredibly popular alternative to a true vintage port at a fraction of the price, being used as a style by many other firms in their wake. As a House, Taylor’s is undeniably one of the highest quality producers of port available, and has centuries of experience with which to back that up – remaining the benchmark for many vintages, any bottle of theirs is sure to go down well! You can find our range of Taylor’s Ports of every style on our website, and see for yourself why they deserve all the praise they get. #vintagewineandport #taylorsportwine #portwine #port #winesofinstagram #winestagram #instawine #porthouse #history https://www.instagram.com/p/BtMHJENHQI8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=tikcqxpzj7bt

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The mysterious caped Don is a wine icon, and ‘one of the three most famous characters in the Alcohol industry’. Ever-present on any Sandeman port bottles, the figure wearing a traditional Portuguese student’s cape and holding a port glass, has seemingly always been a part of the company… but where did he come from? The original Don was drawn in 1928. A Scottish artist, George Massiot Brown, approached Sandeman and decided to capitalise on the success of French art of the time, signing the painting as G. Massiot – passing for a French artist to the average onlooker. As Brown was allegedly a film buff, and The Gaucho (the third instalment in the Zorro franchise) was released in the same week, it is assumed by many that he based his character on the eponymous hero of the movies. Unfortunately, Sandeman themselves were too late to ask him the truth and the theory will forever be just that. But the character we now know as The Don still wasn’t born fully. His name came later; seven years on, the company released a new Tawny Port called ‘Dry Don’ and featured Brown’s painting on its label. From that moment on, the caped figure took on his new identity as The Don of Sandeman and he’s been inseparable from the brand ever since! Sandeman itself was founded in 1790 by George and David Sandeman, out of Perth. Eight years later David left to found the Commercial Bank of Scotland, leaving the business in George’s hands. From there it passed to George’s nephew, and then to his son Albert. The family is full of success stories, but Albert was a true multitasker: throughout his life he was also Governor of the Bank of England, High Sheriff of Surrey and Commissioner of Income Tax for the City of London – managing to keep the business running in the family all the while. The company finally passed from family control in 1993, and was bought by Sogrape in 2001… but another descendent, George T.D. Sandeman, sits on the board for Sogrape. Coincidence or reclamation of the family jewels, who knows – all we can say is that the company has never been far from the family for which it was named. #vintagewineandport #winefacts #winehistory #portwine #port #interesting #sandeman https://www.instagram.com/p/BtENYwJHucg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1urkivgw325wi

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Massandra is a winery on the coast of Crimea, built and originally owned by Tsar Nicholas II. During his reign the Tsar excavated caves beneath the city for his ‘personal wine cellar’. As Jancis Robinson wrote, “With more than three kilometres of tunnels excavated by Georgian miners, [Massandra] was designed in the 1890s to make and age wines for the nearby palaces where the Russian court spent their summers.” These caves survived the Russian Revolution, both World Wars, and the fall of Communism. The first shipment of these wines to become available in the West was in 1990, after Sotheby’s art auction house travelled to sell Russian art in Moscow and made a huge purchase of the antique sweet Massandra wines – around 13,000 bottles. Our bottles came to us through Sotheby’s as part of the Massandra Collection: the oldest one per cent of the wine cases produced each year during Massandra’s day. The contents of Massandra’s cellars have been revered by many; including Stalin – who shipped them to the Tblisi Number 1 Winery to protect them from Nazi invasion in 1941, then back again after the Second World War had ended – and Gorbachev, who granted special exemption to the wineries from the Russian ‘vine-pull’ scheme of the 1980s. Muscat, used to make the bottle pictured, is a grape family known as one of the oldest and most widespread globally. Believed to have originated in the Middle East, Muscat grapes have been used to make wine since they were cultivated by the ancient Greeks. The Massandra Collection includes bottles from many varieties of Muscat, from black Tavrida to white Livada, and you can find them all on our website! #vintagewineandport #rarewine #fineandrarewines #oldwine #oldbottles #history #winehistory #winefacts #winesofinstagram #winestagram #dessertwine #instawine #interesting https://www.instagram.com/p/BtBgYoyH2yi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15u2143y5vk8w

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We at VWP sell wines that date back hundreds of years, even as far as the mid-1700s – but there is one bottle which, compared to our eldest, is a true Methuselah. The Speyer Wine Bottle, or Römerwein, found its home in Germany in the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer in the late 1860s. Dating back to sometime between 325-350 AD, the wine was found during an excavation in 1867 of a Roman nobleman’s tomb in one of the oldest settlements in the area. The tomb contained two sarcophagi, one for a man and one a woman, and together both contained sixteen vessels – but the Römerwein alone still contained liquid wine. Although the magnum-sized bottle has remained unopened, so as not to destroy its contents, scientists and experts have done what they can to analyse it from the outside. The general conclusion is that the wine within was diluted with a mixture of herbs, and so its taste can’t be speculated over; but regardless, the loss of its ethanol over time and the sheer age of the wine mean that, as Oenological professor Monika Christmann put so eloquently, "Micro-biologically it is probably not spoiled, but it would not bring joy to the palate." The wine may owe its survival to the presence of thick olive oil and a mixture similar to rosin (a resin made from heated tree sap) above the liquid, as well as a wax seal on the neck of the bottle, which together have successfully protected it from the outside air thus far. Being from the 4th Century put this wine among the world’s oldest – and it is in fact the oldestliquid wine ever found, although dry residue of wine has been found to date back as far as 6,000 BC! #vintagewineandport #oldbottles #oldwine #roman #ancientwine #interesting #winefacts #winesofinstagram #winestagram #instawine https://www.instagram.com/p/BsyNLJTnikz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5ia8kl9vok0o

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Who here likes wasps? I know I don’t… but I can’t dislike them, because without wasps where would we be? In a world of less painful summers, true, but also a world of less quaffable wine. It’s a fact that plenty have written about, but nobody seems to talk about: wasps are key to wine production, and without the little caution-coloured critters we couldn’t enjoy our glass nearly as much. Saccharomyces cereviciae is a fungus used in the production of plenty of consumables, usually referred to as Brewers Yeast. It's found growing on fruit like grapes in the summer, but it’s delicate – if the temperature drops too low, it will die off and never revive. That’s where our testy little friends come in; they love grapes, so when the fruits ripen the wasps move in. The little guys eat up as much as they can, ingesting S. cereviciae in the process, before taking their spoils back home. So now, the yeast has a new home for the winter: the bellies of their striped buddies. However, the adult wasps only give the yeast a way to survive the cold seasons, not a way to return to glory in the coming summer – which is where the larvae take over. Having been fed on the lovely ripe fruit by their elders, the yeast is sent further down the line to survive and thrive, before the new generation of wasps flies out and brings it back to the budding fruit in the new year. I. Stefanini and L. Dapporto of the University of Florence decided to research this phenomenon, capturing female wasps during each growing season and before their winter hibernation, the most obvious and impressive example being when the females were fed a strain of yeast which glowed in the dark. After their hibernation, the yeast was still visibly glowing in the wasps – and in their larvae too, who hadn’t been fed by the scientists. Following their study, the pair wrote wasps “can maintain a potentially unending transmission of yeast strains.” So there you have it. Without wasps we wouldn’t be able to enjoy beer, bread or (some may say most importantly) wine in the same way – and I for one am eternally grateful! #vintagewineandport #facts #winesofinstagram #winestagram #interesting https://www.instagram.com/p/BsvmviEn-mQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14nsa958kro5z

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This bottle is a gorgeous example of a fine Chianti. Chianti is one of Italy’s most notable wine regions and sits in Tuscany, a region of central Italy along the Tyrrhenian coast. 1962 was an excellent vintage across the main regions of Piedmont and Tuscany, producing wines which exhibit a deep colour, rich intensity and good structure too. The area is well-known for its lovely wines – usually made primarily with the Sangiovese grape, much like Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile de Montepulciano.   The first Chianti wine zone was officially marked out in 1716, by Grand Duke Cosimo Medici III, but Barone Ricasoli of the winery Castello di Brolio is often credited with moulding the basis for the modern Chianti style later the next century. In 1967 the Chianti DOC title was created, and less than two decades later the region was bumped up to the highest level of Italian wines: DOCG. The region produces such an amount of quality wine, the area of Chianti Classico (the subregion where in 1716 the zone was originally demarcated) was even awarded a separate DOCG classification a decade later. The Chianti Classico region stretches from Florence in the north, to Siena in the south. All wines from the region are adorned with the famous black rooster, and their production overseen by Consorzio del Vino Chianti Classico – an organisation founded specifically to improve the quality of the area’s wines as much as possible. These wines are widely renowned as the highest level of Chianti, and although they can differ greatly due to the differences in elevation and soil within the subregion, all are regarded with respect by novices and Masters of Wine alike.   Unfortunately, this particular bottle has been snapped up already… but the good news is, we’re in the midst of our January clearance sale! The sale will come to an end early next week, so if you’re looking for a fine Chianti (or any other nice bottles) with which to enjoy your liver and fava beans, look no further – just give us an email at sales@vintagewineandport.co.uk or head to our website to see how far our prices are being reduced! #fineandrarewines #vintagewineandport #chianti #winesofinstagram #luxurywine https://www.instagram.com/p/BstAFGRnXrR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=tt8gxun2fm3l