I had dinner at Brant Point Grill in the White Elephant Hotel, Nantucket, prior to attending a Port tasting that evening in the hotel. I chose to go with the Spring Special, 3-course dinner for $33. My choices were short rib ragout first course, pork chop with fingerling potatoes, carrots and cippolini onions as entrée, and 7-layer chocolate cake with berries and chocolate sauce (leave off the whipped cream) for dessert. Since I had been to one wine event already plus the Pegau tasting and had Ports to come, I had a cocktail instead of wine with dinner. It was called a Harbor Seal cocktail and was an interesting combo of Gin, Cointreau, and Absinthe spray.
The food was delicious but the ragout was so filling I only ate about 1/2 to 2/3 of it. The pork chop was both thick and large and I didn't finish it. The piece of cake was rich and filling but I managed to eat about 2/3 of it.
The Port and bleu cheese tasting was in the Ivory Room of the White Elephant. Ilona Thompson, whom I had met at an earlier event, was there. She is a wine writer and has a wine, food and travel blog at www.palatexposure.com.
We had eight different bleu cheeses around our plates but the Portuguese presenter went through the names so quickly that I couldn't get them all down. Two at the top of the plate were from Oregon's Rogue Valley, and a Medford, Oregon creamery, the final two on the plate were from Point Reyes, CA and near Atlanta. Somewhere in the middle was a Stilton and I think at least one Minnesota and one Vermont cheese? Having recently had a big dinner, I just nibbled a bit of each cheese and the only one I didn't care for was the Medford one which was the strongest.
The Port representative was from the Symington house and the Ports were from Graham and Dow (Symington also purchased Cockburn in 2010.) We started with Graham's SIX GRAPES RUBY PORT which is pretty widely available in the USA. Aged in big wood vats; six years in wood. Six grapes is a symbol of quality rather than the number of grapes in the blend. Graham's house style is rich and lush. The presenter mentioned blueberries, eucalyptus and minty notes. Somewhat sweeter than other houses and deeply concentrated.
Tawny Ports are aged much longer in wood and have some oxidation. In a twenty-year Tawny the average age of the wines will be at least twenty years.
2009 DOW'S LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE--"equivalent of Graham's Six Grapes" "peppery tannins" "grapes from further east near the Spanish border" I thought this paired nicely with a less sharp bleu cheese such as the Point Reyes. LBV is aged in wood 4-6 years. It is tasted while in barrels before it is bottled and may be submitted to the Port Institute for LBV designation.
The presenter suggested pairing Tawny Ports also with aged Gouda cheese or mature crumbly cheeses. He said Portugal has some of the lowest yields in the world. Ruby Port is usually served at room temperature (cooler that some American homes may be) while Tawny Ports are usually served chilled. Tawny Ports can be opened for months without spoiling. Ruby Ports lose some freshness if opened too long. A "t-cap" (shaped differently from a regular cork) means don't age it longer--already mature enough to consume.
10-YEAR OLD DOW TAWNY. More expression of the fruit (less influence of the wood aging) than the 20- or 30-year old Ports. Shows dried fruit (prune), a little caramel, viscous texture. I liked this.
GRAHAM'S 20-YEAR OLD TAWNY. Viscous, some raisin "citrus" character says presenter.
Next was GRAHAM'S QUINTA DOS MALVEDOS. Quinta = "estate" A vintage from a non-declared vintage year. 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2011 were all declared vintages. Presenter mentioned that this Quinta Port showed the first signs of bottle aging--spiciness and smokiness. It would be more affordable than a declared-vintage wine.
Side note: throughout the weekend I met with great courtesy from strangers--both hotel staff, and fellow attendees. Rob, from Boston by way of NYC, what a gent! He walked me all the way from the White Elephant Hotel to Seven Sea Street Inn where I was staying, to be sure I got home safely after the Port tasting when it was dark out. He works for LifeLock. The food and beverage manager at The White Elephant was very gracious. Both a man and later a woman helped me with my suitcase when I was having lunch prior to boarding the ferry for Hyannis. (Those cobblestones and uneven brick sidewalks are hell on wheels--that is on wheeling suitcases.) An interesting woman I met while taking a break from the Grand Tasting on Sunday was a Chinese-American who lives in Boston but has worked in San Francisco and Abu Dhabi. I also met the winemaker and general manager of Gary Farrell, Theresa Heredia and Nancy Bailey who gave me the tip that their supply of Gary Farrell Rochioli Vineyard Chardonnay was down to one bottle so to come by their table early at the Grand Tasting to sample it. (I did and it was worth seeking out.)