Port & Food
Contrasting flavour is just one part of this wonderful experience and this section aims to suggest some taste, pairing profiles that will make this most incredible style of fine wine really sing for its supper.
In some parts of the world, Port wine has been known to be served all the way through the meal. We think this a little extreme and suggest that key moments of consumption are honed in on to really savour the flavour profiles that each of these Port wines can deliver.
Do not limit yourselves to drinking Port wine just in the cooler months. Consider the different styles of Port wine and you are able to drink Port during the 12 months of the year. People do not stop drinking red wines in the summer or white wines during the winter, so why should Port wine be any different?
VINTAGE
Other blue, buttery, mellow and slighty piquant cheeses to consider would be: Cashel Blue, Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Saint Agur Blue.
AGED TAWNY PORTS
A glass of chilled 10 Year Old makes a delicious aperitif, but is equally good matched to a hard, nutty cheese or a pudding such as apple pie, tarte tatin, baked figs, orange tart, (leave the peel on some of the orange) caramel tart, or cooked strawberries with pepper. The 20-Year-Old is excellent with crème brûlée, honey and almond cake and cheeses such as Parmesan and Manchego. Serve it in place of a Sauternes or Gewurztraminer with a delicate foie gras and brioche. The acidity of the 20 Year Old cuts perfectly through the richness of the paté.
The venerable 30 & 40 Year Olds need no accompaniment, except time to savour them and a good armchair.
FULL BODIED, FRUITY RED PORTS
Ruby Ports are often used in their natural form in the culinary world to make the sweetest of Port wine reductions, wonderful when poured over a piece of venison or fillet steak and equally pleasurable when drizzled over some poached pears.
Reserve Ports such as Taylor’s First Estate crammed with luscious black fruit flavours cry out for a cheeseboard with a ripe and redolent Pont L’Evêque, a creamy and full bodied Brie de Meaux or why not try an Italian Taleggio.
Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage Port is elegant and fruity, displaying the heritage of the great Taylor’s Vintages it makes an excellent match for a goat’s milk cheese such as a fresh Valençay or a Sainte-Maure. As the thick crumbly texture of the chèvre dissolves in contact with the wine, the ripe and opulent fruitiness of the LBV merges with the rich tangy flavours of the cheese in sublime synergy.
The dessert aficionado should insist on being served a hot chocolate fondant with ice cream or why not try a chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce.
WHITE PORT
Keep a bottle in your fridge at all times, you never know when you are going to feel like having a wonderfully refreshing glass of chilled Taylor’s Chip Dry. The perfect drink on a warm summer’s day with some salted almonds and some hand cut crisps.
Alternatively, enjoy it as a long drink served in a high ball glass, with 5 or 6 cubes of ice, topped up with tonic water and a sprig of mint.
Instead of serving a glass of Sauternes with foie gras, why not try a chilled White Port instead. The hints of honey and good balanced acidity in the wine complement the rich paté beautifully.
Taylor’s white ports are also rather excellent when drizzled into a warm soup, adding some wonderful depth to the soup on a cold winter’s day.
And why not try it as part of a dessert. Serve 2 scoops of lemon or lime sorbet into a martini glass and pour a measure of Taylor’s Chip Dry or White Port over the sorbet – divine.
