One of the questions I am often asked is, “Why is there a blob of white paint on my bottle of Vintage Port”? Indeed, some customers refuse to buy a bottle with white paint on it.
The white paint on a Port bottle is often known as a “splash mark”. It is a dash of white paint, whitewash or chalk that is applied in the Port cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia in Oporto.
Sometimes it is a neat blob of white paint on a vintage Port bottle, other times it is a real splash – and it seems to vary from Port house to Port House and, no doubt, depends on who was working in the cellar on a particular day and how much of a hurry they are in!
The reason for the splash mark is so that one can tell which way “up” the bottle has been whilst it has been quietly lying down in the cellar. The white daub or “splash mark” tells the cellar master which way up the bottle has been cellared. Therefore, if the bottle is left on one side, the sediment will all collect on that side.
For the consumer, it is useful information for when it is time to decant that special bottle of Port. Vintage Port did not legally have to be labelled for sale until it became law with the 1977 Port vintage, so there was often no label to see which way up the bottle was (the vintage and name of the Port would be on the capsule and the cork).
If the bottle is handled carefully with the white paint mark uppermost, there is less chance of the sediment being disturbed. I say “was useful information ” because I think that the splash mark on a bottle of vintage Port is a bit of a throwback to the old days, perhaps when a bottle of Port would be taken straight from a cellar, decanted and served straight away (perhaps using a Port cradle).
