Reported by Dawn Harvie and Rutha Astravas
Guild member Kelly Arnott and Guild VP Martin Carrière organized an evening of Portuguese specialty foods matched with different style Ports at the Lisbon Café. In fact, Tony Suarez, President of the Portuguese Wine Society, equated the event to a Port cocktail party! It was a rare opportunity to try unfamiliar port houses as well as Ports side by side according to style. As Tony said, “A port on its own is nice, but it’s great having them all side by side!” This Port experience was very unique—all-port, all authentic dishes, and a video on the region (Port production, Port houses, and Port producers association, and opening bottles with Port tongs).
There were at least 75 bottles of Port on display and, gratefully, not all of them were open! Even so, more than 30 bottles were available for tasting! And the panoply of food was incredible. It was not possible to try it all, but some of us definitely tried, warmly encouraged by our hosts as it is Portuguese custom to always have food with wine or Port. We were treated to a real feast for the eyes at the start, and surprisingly food kept appearing throughout the night. It was nearly impossible to keep notes of the food, wines, and matches, but we’ll try:
White PortsEight white ports were offered up. They were coupled a mix of salty and sweet dishes: cashews, fava beans (for popping into one’s mouth), warmed salted almonds in olive oil, olives, and dried apricots. Other amuses included prosciutto-wrapped white asparagus and ham and pineapple kabobs, which mellowed the whites and brought out some of the fresher, tropical, or spicier notes and helped balance richer wines in the mouth.
 To our surprise and delight, there was a lot of seafood; warm shrimp in butter, crescents with shrimp (Rissóis de Camarão), smoked salmon canapés, homemade cod cakes, and oysters. Who’d have thought all of these would go with generally sweet whites? Smoked salmon brought out a curious smoke and tension between the fruitiness, saltiness, and minerality. The gentle and creamy cod cakes and crescents went well with all the wines, occasionally emphasizing heat, but delivering a pleasing and full mouth-feel. Oysters caused a zinging sweet/salty shock, emphasizing sweetness and softness in the bivalves and acidity and spice in the wines. It was an exciting match! Curls of lemon rind were also recommended with some of the sweeter whites, whether on ice or at room temperature.
Offley Cachucha White Port – lots of nutty and orange/pineapple flavours on the palate with good acidity and a hint of sweetness, but the alcohol was a little too apparent.
Ferreira White Port – smoky, nutty nose and seemed a little lighter than the Offley with almost no hint of the sweetness.
Quinta de Noval Fine White Port – grapey/soapy/perfumey nose with a hint of sweetness.
Quinta do Infantado White Port – lots of nutty flavours with orange and bergamot. It was crisp and tart, and not apparently sweet.
Taylor Fladgate Fine White Port – fresh with notes of lemon, and was ever so slightly sweet.
Niepoort White Port – nutty with a touch of bitterness and sweetness. It was quite refreshing as an aperitif with mint, fruit, and tonic. The recipe is quite simple: 1 part white Port to 2 parts tonic (or 2 parts Port to 1 part tonic!) with fresh mint, some fresh fruit (any kind), and a couple of ice cubes. The Port Tonic also works well with just a twist of lemon peel.
Smith Woodhouse White Port – seemed rather non-descript in comparison to the others.
Warre’s White Port – Sherry-like nose, but was quite an easy drinking white Port.
 Ruby Ports
Wines were complemented by bowls of various nuts (pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and hazelnuts) and small rolls shaped into a grape bunch. We were encouraged to continue trying dishes from the previous ‘flights’ with these wines.
Sandeman – a very nice simple Ruby with flavours of fresh red fruits, prunes, and raisins, and well-balanced.
Kopke – another simple Ruby with nice plum flavours, medium-bodied, and good balance. Quinto do Infantado – one of the better Ruby Ports, very fruity with good acid to back the sweet raisin flavours.
Dow’s – yet another nice Ruby with dried fruits and spices.
Vintage Character Ports
Cabral Vintage Character Reserve Port – was all fruit (a combination of fresh and stewed) and lots of sweet raisins.
Newman’s Celebrated Port – tart and floozy.
Croft Indulgence Port – a comparatively simple port with some raisiny notes.
Graham’s Six Grapes – a very nice, reasonably rich Port with lots of dried fruit and chocolate notes.
Fonseca Bin 27 Fine Reserve Port – (ruby port with vintage character) lots of prune and some really rich dark black berry and nice balance.
Warre’s Special – intense aromas of plums and spice.
Late-Bottled Vintage PortsThe nuts and fruits continued to please tasters. Some of us honed our wine/nut pairing skills. Unsalted nuts and cheese provided more relief between sips from these powerful wines (oka, flamengo, and two sheep cheeses: Casteloes and quiejo da serra.)
Taylor Fladgate LBV 1999 – a smooth LBV with lots of rich black fruit.
Taylor Fladgate LBV 2001 – classic Taylor Fladgate quality with plums and dried fruit.
Quinta do Vale D. Maria – mature raspberry and blackberry fruit, raisins, and good acidity.
Croft LBV 1999 – ripe fruit and raisins.
Gilberts LBV 2000 – restrained Port with lots of raisins and alcohol.
Graham’s LBV 2000 – very hot comparatively speaking.
Delaforce LBV 1998 – lots of plum and raisins.
Tawny Ports
These were grouped into 10 and 20-year bottles. Dishes included paté and fig paste, cheese with quince paste, plus the aforementioned cheeses and nuts (walnuts went especially well).
Niepoort Tawny – sweet raisins, dates, and figs on the nose, along with an alcohol burn, but nice sweetness and good acid in the mouth.
Fonseca – slightly medicinal nose, and had a little more apparent acid and less sweetness than the Niepoort and was not quite as rich.
Delaforce – old nose with some spicy and smoky notes, but it was not well balanced.
Kopke – nuts and alcohol on the nose, but along with the nuts, there were prunes and plums and lots of sweetness in the mouth. A little more acid might had worked well here.
Noval 10 Year Old Tawny – a lot of fruit on the nose and a real nice acid kick to it in the mouth.
Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny – lots on the nose including floral and nutty notes, and raisins and prunes, which all followed through on the palate with a great balance between the acid and sweetness.
Martinez 10 Year Old Tawny – good acid and sweetness balance, but not as powerful on the nose as some of the others.
Graham’s 10 Year Old Tawny – a decent Tawny with good acid, but a little hot.
Fonseca 20-Year-Old Tawny – very smooth, sweeter and smoother than the 10 year olds.
Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Old Tawny – nice! Full of rich dried fruits and caramel.
Grahams 20 Year Old Tawny – again another nice Port! Smooth, rich, and easy to drink.
 Lagrima Ports
Lagrima Ports are sweet white Ports. Different chocolates, chocolatecovered strawberries, and dried apricots were on hand for those who could still nibble.
Calem Lagrima – sweet nose with a hint of floral, full-bodied, but simple.
Porto Pocas Lagrima – nutty, with good acidity and alcohol.
Portal Lagrima – generally not very descriptive.
At the end of a meal, the Portuguese typically eat fruit, reserving cakes and fancier desserts for special celebrations. Tony demonstrated two very simple desserts: melon or mango decorated with mint (which is representative of a warm welcoming) and drizzled with Port, and pears, salty cheese, a little quince, and walnuts with a glass of Port on the side. Easy and delicious!
To finish off the evening we had a 1990 Quinta do Castelinho Colheita and a 1977 Vintage Port from Delaforce. The Colheita was bottled in 2003 and was in wood for at least seven years. It was fairly light in colour (comparatively speaking) and was full of stewed prunes and nutty notes. Someone thought it was rather Sherry-like. As for the 1977, we had a hard time removing the cork, and, of course, it had to be decanted by holding the label. It was amazing! I had some smoke and lots of dried fruit flavours (raisins, prunes, figs), some nice acidity and a very long finish. Extremely easy to drink and definitely worth the wait.
Thanks so much to Martin, Kelly, Tony, and allhis colleagues for a command performance and very informative evening. |
The National Capital Sommelier Guild strongly supports moderate and responsible consumption of wine and spirits. Guild dinner events allow a designated driver to attend at a reduced price. The designated driver will not be served alcohol. Guild tasting events provide and encourage the use of spit buckets.