Port
Port is a fortified wine from
Portugal’s Douro valley, where the vineyards rise up craggy
mountainsides in steep terraces, like a giant stairway climbing to
the skies. Given the region’s rough terrain, the grapes are
usually harvested by hand because machines can’t make it up
into the vineyards. To make port, grape brandy is added during the fermentation process to bring it to a halt, resulting in wine with a high proportion of residual sugar. The wine is then aged in oak casks for at least three years before it’s bottled and sold. Real port wines bear labels with the Instituto do Vinho do Porto garantia.
There are many types of port, each with its enthusiasts. White ports are well-suited to long summer evenings. The French like ruby ports as an aperitif. The British enjoy a tawny port and a good cigar after dinner. Quebecers prefer LBV port. Vintage port, the ultimate port, is made from a single harvest of exceptional quality and aged long years to perfection.
White port is made from white grapes and ranges from very sweet to very dry. Young, it is light and dry and served as an aperitif or long drink with tonic. Once opened, white port can be refrigerated and will keep its flavour for three to four months. But once you've tasted it, it won't last that long.
Ruby, like all the following types of port, is made from black grapes. This most basic and youngest port is recommended for sauces.
Tawny, so named for its colour, is a mixture of wines from various harvests, aged in oak casks for several years. Aged tawny port, available in 10, 20, 30 and 40 years versions, is blended from high quality wines. Slight oxidation develops after a few months. Depending on its age, tawny port can be served lightly chilled as an aperitif with dried fruits and nuts, at room temperature with a first course like foie gras, at the end of the meal with blue cheese (Roquefort and Stilton), or with rich cake for dessert.
Colheita (Portuguese for harvest) is a tawny from a single vintage, aged a minimum of 7 years in wood, then bottled and shipped. At this point it has reached perfection and longer bottle ageing will not improve it. The label indicates the vintage and the year of bottling. It has a nutty flavour with a hint of dried fruit.
LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) is made from a single vintage aged in wood for 4 to 6 years and filtered before bottling. LBV is ready to drink and does not need to be decanted. Opened bottles should be stored upright in the refrigerator and will keep about fifteen days. LBV port is good with chocolate desserts, creamy cheese like Camembert, and pies made with full-flavoured fruit. Some adventurous souls also serve it with juicy red meats or fish with sauce.
Vintage Port is redolent of blackberry, pepper and spices. The finest of all Port wines, it has many devotees. Vintage port comes from a single harvest of exceptional quality, is bottled after two years of cask ageing without further processing, and then spends at least ten years maturing in the bottle. This is one case where patience is well rewarded. When you buy vintage port at the SAQ, it isn't yet ready no matter the price. Lay it down for ten or twenty years. A tasteful suggestion: buy a vintage port when your child is born to be opened in celebration of his or her 21st birthday. Vintages to savour include 1945, 55, 63, 70, 75, 85 and 90; vintages to lay down include 91, 94 and now 2000. Sediment forms during the years of maturation so vintage port must be carefully decanted and allowed to breathe. It can be sipped alone or enjoyed with cheese, nuts and dried fruit. An opened bottle will not keep more than 24 hours and sometimes less.
Chilled, on ice, neat or with tonic white port is excellent as an aperitif served with olives, toasted almonds and sausage. Ruby port is best enjoyed at about 60°F (14-15°C) in a fine short-stemmed tulip glass. LBV, colheita, tawny or vintage ports are powerful wines traditionally served at the end of a meal and sipped during long postprandial conversations.
The decanter of port is set in front of the host who serves the guest to his right and then passes the decanter to the guest on his left. The port is then passed clockwise from guest to guest back to the host. This is called passing the port. It is considered bad form to ask for the port so if a guest fails to pass it on, the host asks him if he knows the bishop of Norwich who is an awfully good fellow, but who never passes the port.
While ruby and young tawnies are used in sauces and dressings for chicken, duck and goose liver salads, sweet LBV and 10-year or older aged tawnies with their fruity complexity make an excellent counterpoint to salty foods. These ports are sumptuous with hot or cold foie gras, go well with mild vegetables, carrots and onions, and are excellent with roast duck prepared with peaches, figs or oranges, as well as pepper steak.
Strong or nutty cheeses like Cheddar, Gruyère, or Cantal, blue cheeses such as Roquefort, Bleu d'Auvergne or Bleu de Charlevoix, accompany a tawny particularly well. The British, who discovered port back in the late 17th century, sometimes have their port in their cheese! Port is poured into pierced Stilton which is allowed to sit for a few days, even a few weeks, until the wine's flavour permeates the cheese.
Port is a natural with chocolate desserts. It is also pairs nicely with light desserts that aren't overly sweet: melon salad, broiled mango, sabayon, mousse, puff pastry and pies made with berries, cherries or currants. The velvety richness of a fine vintage or aged tawny port enjoyed with a cigar after the meal is pure heaven
Vintage ports are sold in bottles with cork stoppers and should be stored on their sides to keep the cork from drying out. Like all fine wines, they must be polished off once opened or they will spoil. Non-vintage ports come in bottles with ground stoppers and should be stored upright in a cool dark place, kept at a constant temperature between 10 and 20°C. Opened tawnies and LBV will keep a few weeks, sometimes longer, but less if there’s just a bit left.
There are at least 170 kinds of port sold in Quebec. Some twenty brands, of various categories, come in 375 mL bottles, enabling the uninitiated to explore the various styles of port and find the one they like best. Wasting port, the nectar of the gods, is a sin! Buy small bottles if you enjoy port only occasionally.