Interesting thought - kind of like “ice beer.” The problem with that approach is that it involves filtering out ice crystals, and a lot of small particulates get lost too. I’d think you’d get a thin, unsatisfying Port.
They do use a special yeast for that purpose. I don’t remember them saying anything about adding anything to must. Possibly starting at 32 Brix at harvest and using the special yeast allows them to reach the alcohol level.
I’m going to pass. Was hoping they’d come with little raccoon skin caps, but alas, nope.
CA port is not port in my book just like Japanese scotch is not scotch. At least the Japanese use traditional scotch making techniques and ingredients whereas the CA producers tend to call any sweet fortified red wine port. Of course this is just a labeling issue and has no bearing on the quality of the beverage being offered. Traditionally port is fortified with brandy but in the US it could be anything with a high alcohol content, I doubt there are any regulations. There are still a few CA champagnes but I have not seen any CA burgandies or chablis lately though that may be because I don’t peruse the jug wines any longer.
I made a slight edit, thinking that perhaps they could just freeze a portion of it. And I figured you could just lift a sheet of ice off the top, leaving the remainder hopefully intact. Maybe I’ll try an experiment with some wine in the freezer tonight. Or I could just leave it outside as we are expecting a zero degree low here in Nevada!
So… you don’t know what was used to fortify this, therefore it isn’t worthy of the “port” designation? But it could still be “quality”? This comment was confusing enough before you started talking about chablis and jug wines.
0.375 ml? Hardly worth the effort to uncork it, if you can find a corkscrew small enough.
Interesting. Traditional Ports also require alcohol-tolerant yeasts, but fortification is still needed to reach the end result.
Wherebouts?
Reno here.
Well, it is dessert wine. You don’t generally fill a tankard with it and chug.
Is there heaven on Earth? I don’t know, but a fine Port and some really sweet, dark chocolate-covered strawberries come close.
Hey neighbor! Carson City here. If you ever want to, or need to, split an order, contact me.
Keep warm! Cheers and Happy New Year!
In this case, 0.375mL would be more like this:
Now for that corkscrew…
Don’t think so…if the water and alcohol are already mixed you need to seed the ice crystals for them to come out of solution. With grains of sand or imperfections in glass, maybe. Or if you drop some dry ice in it, maybe 
Try diluting some vodka by half and see if you can remove some water…let us know!
Suspected typo on the .375ml? I think .375L is more accurate? To support, referring to the comparison to normal 750ml/.75L wine bottle photo on the front page.
If I’m wrong on this someone please chime in! But methinks as someone mentioned above these are the ‘demi’ size bottles and not the tiny snifters of port that some are concerned about above;-)
Ah - I didn’t see the typo. I thought he was just complaining about the half-bottles.
Hey WD, are you selling 1/2000 bottles?
He just wants to get the microbiologists revved up to use their micropipettes.
Well, Ice Beer is made by rapidly chilling to around 25 deg F, at which time some of the water does turn to ice crystals, while the alcohol, having a lower freezing point, doesn’t form crystals. So when the crystals (and some particulates) are filtered out, a thinner, higher alcohol beer remains.
Again, I don’t know how Messina Hof makes their un-fortified Port, but I wouldn’t put my money on the ice thing. For one thing, ice crystal formation would probably wreak havoc with the wine - that’s why we become concerned about shipping at this time of year (and yes, I know about Ice Wine - that’s made from frozen grapes).
And while I’m fascinated by this conundrum, being a dedicated geek, I don’t think it applies to the Port being offered here.
It would kinda serve us right if wineries from a country such as Chile stated selling wines labeled as “Napa Valley.”
OK, I just opened the a bottle of Woot Adequate Gift wine, poured a glass for me and one for the freezer. Will I have half a glass of port in the morning? Doubtful, but hey, it’s an experiment.
Another idea for “natural” fortification might be to “freeze dry” - place contents in a partial vacuum, collect the early volatile material that boils off (at room temperature of course) and save, next the water boils off (discard), then return the earlier material to what’s left of the original contents, and Voilà! … Maybe.
OK, I suppose proper netiquette would be to get back “on topic”. Excuse the diversion.
Don’t let this guy near the bleach and ammonia.