Which is not to say that Port can't be enjoyed fittingly at any other time of the year. And maybe we've been a bit culturally brainwashed by all those literary and cinematic depictions of the decanter of Port on the sideboard and a raging fire in the fireplace. Still, there's no denying that a glass of Port suffuses the lucky imbiber with a delicious sense of warmth and well-being that is most welcome on a cold winter night.
+/- Port and Cold Weather, Perfect Together
There are any number of charming, even romantic traditions associated with drinking Port. The first has to do with opening the bottle, and the recommended method (which, I confess, I have never witnessed) is a bit more dramatic than simply pulling out the cork. For this exercise you need a special pair of tongs which are heated until they are bright cherry-red, then applied to the neck of the bottle and held there until the glow is gone; remove the tongs, then put a wet rag on the neck and, with a sharp twist, remove the neck of the bottle. Not terribly practical, but good entertainment for the guests at your next dinner party!
Then there is the practice of passing the Port decanter round the dinner table, always to the left, which I will let British wine writer Geoffrey Robertson describe: "The host, after pouring a very small quantity into his own glass first, is allowed to serve the lady on his right and left, so long as the decanter or bottle does not leave his hand. The decanter is then passed on to the left, the gentleman usually serving the lady as sometimes the decanters are very heavy. Should the decanter stop too long at someone's elbow, a gentle reminder from the thirstier guests, such as 'Mr. X, your "passport" is out of order,' or 'do you know the bishop of so-and-so, he never passed the Port,' will cause the wine to be circulated again, as no glass should ever be left empty. Another well known cry of despair is 'please polish the table,' as usually the bottom of the coaster is covered in green baize, and the host will then explain that the table is only polished properly when the Port is pushed round in its coaster regularly." Nobody seems to know the origin of this custom — some suggest the Royal Navy, where, of course, "port" means "left" — but the simple explanation probably lies in the fact that most people are right-handed and it is easier for them to pass wine that way.
The third custom has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with practicality, the custom of decanting vintage Port. Vintage Port, as it ages in bottle, throws off a significant amount of (often chunky) sediment, quite tannic and bitter in character, not what you want to find in your post-prandial glass of cheer. To eliminate the sediment, you should pass the wine through very finely textured cheesecloth set in a funnel or coffee-filter holder (and be careful to buy untreated cheesecloth, as some of what is in the marketplace is intended for waxing your car). A recent dinner guest, feeling that bringing wine to our house was equivalent to bringing the proverbial coals to Newcastle, offered instead a bottle from his cellar of 1985 vintage Port; he wisely (and courteously) decanted the bottle at home, rinsed out the original bottle and replaced the wine, as to have done otherwise would have risked reintegrating the sediment with the wine.
What Makes Port "Port"?
Or, more properly, what makes it "Oporto," after the city in which it originates, the name of "Port" (like that of "Champagne") having long ago been traduced by pathetic imitators. Port starts out like any other blended red wine; but well before all the natural sugars in the grapes have had the chance to convert to alcohol the winemaker adds brandy to the wine, thus at the same time stopping the fermentation process, leaving natural residual sugar in the wine, and significantly bolstering the level of alcohol. Tom Stevenson, another of my favorite Brit wine writers, narrates (and simultaneously explains the long-standing English connection): "In 1678, two Englishmen were sent by a Liverpool wine merchant to Viana do Castello, north of Oporto, to learn the wine trade. Holidaying up the River Douro, they were regally entertained by the Abbot of Lamego. Finding his wine 'very agreeable, sweetish, and extremely smooth,' they asked what made it exceptional among all others tasted on their journey. The Abbot confessed to doctoring the wine with brandy, but the Englishmen were so pleased with the result this had that they purchased the entire stock and shipped it home."
The Sweetness Issue
I got hooked on Port a long time ago, and it was my (mis)fortune that my first experience with it was with one of the latter-day classics, the 1963 Quinta do Noval. It was then that I started referring to Port as the adult's lollipop. I think one reason Port is not as widely appreciated in this country as it should be is that many of us still suffer from a misguided idea of a sophisticated palate, namely "dry is good, sweet is bad." Yes, Port is sweet, given how it is made, but it is a natural sweetness, and it has a place at the savory end of the food-pairing line as well. True, it's not for diabetics, but for the rest of us, in reasonable amounts, it is a delicious indulgence; in fact, forget the sweet dessert and bring out some ripe Stilton, some salted almonds, and the Port.
It's Not as Complicated as It Looks
I think the other problem for Port acceptance could well be the language of the label; it can seem a bit intimidating, especially when the "language" in question is in Portuguese. So let's conclude with a very brief "language" lesson. If I am advising someone wanting to buy a Port I tend to start at the most basic level by asking for a stylistic preference: "fruity" or "nutty"? The answer to "fruity" is Ruby Port, while the answer to "nutty" is Tawny Port. Every Port house makes a Ruby and a Tawny as its entry-level wines, and we move up from there in degrees of complexity, so here goes:
Ruby Port a young Port bottled after two or three years in bulk (probably cement or stainless steel)
Tawny Port: Ruby's cousin, made lighter or browner usually by the addition of some white Port (which was made in the traditional way, but with white grapes)
LBV Port : which stands for "late bottled vintage," ruby from a single year, bottled after four to six years of ageing
Aged Tawny : usually marked 10-year, 20-year, etc...light, tawny-colored Port which attained its color not through the addition of white Port but rather through extensive ageing in wood barrel for the number of years indicated
Colheita : a blend of tawny Ports from a single vintage aged several years in wood
True Vintage Port : Port from a single vintage, bottled after only two or three years in cask, then left to mature in bottle in the consumer's own cellars
True Vintage Port represents a mere 1% of all Port produced and is made/offered only in years when all the Port houses agree that the vintage in question was good enough to warrant them "declaring" it a vintage year
Single Quinta Vintage Port : called "poor man's vintage Port," produced from a single wine farm from a year not "declared" as a vintage, a way of experiencing the style of vintage Port without having to pay as much or wait as long
Crusted Port : a blend of different years, bottled early without filtration so that it matures in the bottle and has a heavy sediment
Now that you understand the different style of Port it's time to find out which style you prefer. Going back to the original "fruity/nutty" characterization, let's organize a Port Party; invite a few friends over and open a bottle each of a good Ruby and Tawny from the same producer... the differences will be obvious, and so should your preferences. Then you can move up the ladder a bit, as per the following recommendations.
Tawny Port by Sandeman 16.99 each
Ruby Port by Quinta do Infantado 16.99 each
Tawny Port by Quinta do Infantado 16.99 each
Noval NV Noval Black (in the "ruby" direction)
a new style of Port, big, rich and seductive with elegant fruit flavors that lead to a nice touch of spice 19.99
Churchills 03 LBV (in the "nutty" direction)
spends four years in oak before bottling, resulting in a lush, medium-bodied Port with concentrated and balanced dark fruit flavors complemented by a hints tobacco and leather 29.99