Whelks

Bertie Doe · Dec 15, 2011

I was killing time last Friday, in the Drinks section, whilst wifey studied the price of everything in the supermarket.
I thought I'd grab a bottle of 'something posh, to help wash down the seafood starters this festive, so I snagged a bottle of Cockburns.
I've just noticed it's 20% volume. Now port is a wine right? It's not a spirit, so it hasn't been distilled. Obviously, no yeast will survive 20%, so how do they get it this strong? There's no clue on the label, other than "Dunk responsibly".

oldbloke · Dec 16, 2011

Port is a "fortified" wine. They add some sort of spirits to it.
Hang on let's check Wiki...
They add a "neutral grape spirit". This (a) kills the yeast (b) leaves some unfermented sugars (c) increases the ABV

Bertie Doe · Dec 16, 2011

oldbloke said:
Port is a "fortified" wine. They add some sort of spirits to it.
Hang on let's check Wiki...
They add a "neutral grape spirit". This (a) kills the yeast (b) leaves some unfermented sugars (c) increases the ABV

Thanks for that OB, much appreciated. By 'unfermented sugars' I guess they mean natural grape sugar rather than added cane. Most of the wine I make is fairly thin, even my elderberry. I'm assuming the extra viscosity you get in commercial port and sherry, is due to the unfermented sugars also?

Moley · Dec 16, 2011

Bertie Doe said:
Obviously, no yeast will survive 20%, so how do they get it this strong?

Many varietal wine yeasts will check out at around 15% abv but it is quite possible to ferment out to 20% and sometimes higher with the GP yeast compounds.

But as oldbloke says, port is fortified with the addition of brandy or other spirits.

Can Cockburn's be classed as posh?