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Port Adds Easy Style to Desserts

© Lindsay W. McSweeney

Good cooking can seem magical. Like magic, impressive cooking is a blend of technique, a few tricks, and showmanship. Combining food with liquor illustrates this blend effectively - liquor brings a mysterious alchemy to the taste of many dishes, and it adds sophistication to presentation. Think what a little whiskey and whipped cream does to a cup of coffee. Irish coffee is a classic that seems to warm you up even before you drink it. Another warming liquor, too underused, is Port. Port works especially well with dessert - a course notoriously difficult to pair effectively with wine or other liquor. Port even complements chocolate, a claim almost no other wine can make.

Port originated in Portugal, but it would have remained a local drink without the 17th century wars between France and England. The English, deprived of French wine, began importing Portuguese wine. But transportation was a bit slow, and ships were a bit rocky, and the wine was often ruined during transit. To strengthen it, the wine was fortified by adding Brandy. Brandy has an interesting effect on wine; it immediately stops the grapes from fermenting. Adding brandy, therefore, not only adds to the alcohol level, but it keeps the sweetness from the grapes that is otherwise lost during complete fermentation. By properly timing the addition, you can structure a complex, sweet, warming (20% alcohol) drink that marries especially well with dessert, i.e. port.

While port is easy to taste, it can be ridiculously complicated to buy. Since port is blended from a variety of grapes and usually from several harvest years, there are a myriad of styles and names for different ports. Realistically, however, it is only necessary to divide port into two categories - barrel-aged or bottle-aged. Port aged predominantly outside of the bottle, in either wooden barrels or tanks, is fruity, relatively inexpensive, and ready to drink immediately upon purchase. The most common types within this category are Ruby, (the youngest), Tawny, (my personal favorite), and Vintage Character, (a premium ruby). Given their low cost, it is fun to experiment with different bottles to find a personal favorite.

The classic port of literature (and foodies) is "Vintage Port". Vintage port is port made from grapes of a single harvest, and the declaration of a vintage year is taken very seriously. Vintage port is bottled at two years, but it needs to age a minimum of 10 years in the bottle. Vintage port is expensive, not only when purchased (a minimum of$50-$75/bottle), but also when considering the cost of holding it for many years. There is a reasonable alternative to vintage port which is port labeled "Late Bottled Vintage Port" orLBV. It is not too expensive for a special occasion, and does not require further aging. Expensive ports in restaurants are usually LBV's.

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