Port paired with ?

I'm glad someone has mentioned walnuts, as they are my number one choice for matching a Portuguese Oporto. Pecans would be second best. In this case, the match is with a 1985 Graham's (a relatively young wine by Oporto standards) and you have asked us to provide advice on whether it should be served with cheese or desserts. From my understanding and experience, Stilton and port (tawny preferable to vintage, but vintage is what we're working with here) would be the best match by some margin. So a quality Stilton and some freshly shucked walnuts and pecans on the cheese plate would be my recommendation.

Could I make another suggestion to you about your wine. Roy Hersch highly recommends this Port with a numerical rating of 94 (in 2002) after an 11 hour breathe(!) and 94+ in 2006 (no mentioning the decanting time) but a drink from 2020-2030 proposition. Now, working on how much the wine improved in 2002 with an 11 hour decant, and the six years that have passed, I'd suggest at least an 8 hour breathe to heighten the experience. Simarlarly, I decanted Taylor's 1983 VP some months ago and couldn't believe the difference it made to the enjoyment of the wine. If this is at all possible, please, please try this, carefully removing the contents to a decanter or jug, thoroughly removing any crust or deposits left in the bottle by rinsing the bottle, leaving it inverted to drain and dry and then repouring the port back to the original bottle to take to the event. If you do follow my reco, try a smidge after you first decant it and compare how it changes over the decanting window. Would be great to hear back from you on the results of such.

Hope the night goes well!

David - thank you for that informative post. With some effort, I could probably come home to decant it about 4 hours before we leave the house for this dinner. I would then repour it into the bottle and continue the decanting when we arrive at the dinner. I will post notes afterwards.

Could I make another suggestion to you about your wine. Roy Hersch highly recommends this Port with a numerical rating of 94 (in 2002) after an 11 hour breathe(!) and 94+ in 2006 (no mentioning the decanting time) but a drink from 2020-2030 proposition. Now, working on how much the wine improved in 2002 with an 11 hour decant, and the six years that have passed, I'd suggest at least an 8 hour breathe to heighten the experience. Simarlarly, I decanted Taylor's 1983 VP some months ago and couldn't believe the difference it made to the enjoyment of the wine. If this at all possible, please, please try this, carefully removing the contents to a decanter or jug, thoroughly removing any crust or deposits left in the bottle by rinsing the bottle, leaving it inverted to drain and dry and then repouring the port back to the original bottle to take to the event.

David,
You are 100% correct. I have this wine in my cellar and have not thought about opening one yet. Should be great but is still a baby.
Walt

When people have been saying "Stilton" I was assuming they were meaning blue cheese. Or amd I missing something here? Is Blue cheese something specific? Or is white Stilton a lot more popular state-side than I would imagine.

Steve,

Actually, due to my limited experience, I think of white Stilton as "Stilton" and blue Stilton as "Blue Cheese". I did think that the references to Stilton in the posts were refering to the white version. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks Sam. Now we just need to know what everyone else was thinking of when they recommended Stilton

I was meaning the blue one!

Diane,

I found my wife's recipe box. The recipe for Blue Cheese appetizer crackers follows.

Blue Cheese Crackers, for wine tasting snacks
Modified from a 1988 Bon Appetite recipe

Makes 3-4 dozen

1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature (not light style)
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese, without rind
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup crisp rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional); use no nitrate, thick style
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (pecans or almonds or walnuts)

1 Preheat oven to 350°F

2 With a mixer on medium speed, cream together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.

3 Add cayenne, blue cheese, flour, rice cereal, and bacon (if using)
and beat on medium-low speed until well blended.

4 The dough will be somewhat stiff.

5 Roll 1-tablespoon portions into balls and place slightly apart on baking sheets.

6 Flatten each ball with a fork.

7 Lightly press nuts onto top of each dough ball

8 Bake until crackers are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes


Notes:
Can be served after cooling for 15 minutes, some people prefer them warmer
Holds at room temp for 6 hours
Keeps well for two days, if kept cool and wrapped in wax paper and within cookie tin
Cracker will be dry but should not break with a hard snap

Options:
Toast the nuts first
Omit rice crispies and substitute 1/2C more all-purpose flour
Add salt if you find batch not salted to taste w/o (somewhat cheese dependent)

I guess I should mention Bakewell Tart from Derbyshire, England. I would imagine the almond content might satisfy some folks here!!

http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/ ... _tart.html

I am a believer in a minimalist food pairing with a VP. Any food consumed with the Port will alter the flavour(s) and change your tasting experience.

A clean palette and a curious willingness to experience and learn from the moment are better than any side dish.

I suggest that you either eat first or save the pairing for after the savouring.

I do have a question from reading the serving tips:

Although an 85 is relatively young, are you not running the risk of harming the wine by pouring it into a decanter, back into it's original bottle, transporting it to a new destination, then pouring it again into a decanter? A 63 Graham we shared a recently was so fragile that 15 minutes after pouring it the flavour had disappeared.

ted

63 Graham we shared a recently was so fragile that 15 minutes after pouring it the flavour had disappeared.

A 63 Graham VP had all the flavor disappear in 15 minutes? Certainly not an intact bottle.

The bottle had been stored in a climate (humidity and temperature) controlled wine vault since the purchase of the full case. only two others from the case have been opened and they were fine. Strong, rich, full bodied, and delicious. A personal friend owns the collection and he knows how to store and protect the wines.

We poured one glass for each of us in our small tasting group, talked about the vp as we sipped it, and enjoyed the company and few pieces of cheese and some nuts. I realized there was a small amount remaining in the bottom of the decanter and poured it into a clean glass.

Alas, it was gone.

The bottle had been stored in a climate (humidity and temperature) controlled wine vault since the purchase of the full case. only two others from the case have been opened and they were fine. Strong, rich, full bodied, and delicious. A personal friend owns the collection and he knows how to store and protect the wines.

That would confirm Dale's diagnosis a bad bottle. What a shame.