This one's for you, Georgie...

[wondersofwine]

and others like Bucko that acknowledge a fondness for Port.
As part of last weekend's Triangle Wine Experience benefiting The Frankie Lemmon School (for children with special needs), I went to a session called "Port Demystified" at the Second Empire Restaurant in Raleigh. (The restaurant is a converted older home, quite elegant and has autographed photos from previous diners--Neil Sedaka, Richard Chamberlin, etc.) Session led by Todd and Bernice Cromwell (based in Seattle) and representing Rocha Porto (a Portuguese owned Porto house with a long history). We were given a two-page handout that contrasts Colheita or Reserve Port (always a Tawny) with Vintage Port (red port aged in bottle if it notes "Vintage" on label). It gives little comparative factoids (aged in wood or in bottle; filtered or nonfiltered; flavor components; food affinities of each, etc. He also told us how long to age different types of Port and that Ports of today are made in a less tannic style than those of ten years ago so may not age as long.
This is my second seminar on Ports and I still don't have it downpat, but now I can refer back to the handout.
We first had two red wines from Portugal (nothing too special in my book--I poured part of the first one out). Then a "white" Port. This was suggested as a refreshing summer drink (aperitif) or to use instead of vodka or gin with tonic water. White port can be dry or sweet (sweet is often called Lagrima). The dry white port is the one for mixing with tonic. The Lagrima is more like a Sauternes.

Ruby Port
We had a Rocha 2000 Vintage Port (a step up from a late bottled vintage). Opaque, very dark red, brick rim. Nice taste but I felt the alcohol. Ripe red plum, jammy, viscous, with a long finish. May peak in 15 years according to Mr. Cromwell. I believe he said a .375ml bottle retails for about $23.

Reserve or Colheita Port is only about 1/2 of 1% of total Port production. Vintage rubies are about 2% of production.

1994 Colheita Tawny Port--due to its youth its on the "ruby side" of tawnies. Light clear red--looks like a young ruby port; more tawny in flavor than appearance. Medium body. Very nice indeed. Suggested retail $14 a bottle--I'd certainly pay $14 for this wine!

1983 Tawny Port--light tawny color, clear.
Slight amaretto nose. Dried fruits and nuts on the palate. (We had toasty bits of bread, cheese, dried fruits including apricot and possibly golden raisins and red currants, and three chocolate puff confections--cocoa powder coating--to eat with the wine. The dried fruits went nicely with the 1983 Port. I really like this 1983. It retails for about $25. A bargain in my book.

20-Year Rocha Tawny Port--I knew from a previous Port tasting that the blend of vintages averages about 20 years and meets the standards of the Portuguese Wine Board or Institute--not all wines in the blend are 20 years old. (I think most of the Ports were 20% alcohol by volume). Medium tawny color, darker color and more aged aroma than the 1983 vintage Tawny. Again the dried fruit characteristic. I found this more subtle and enjoyable than my previous experience of a 20-year Port (which may have been from Graham's but I'm not sure). It wasn't as thick or concentrated, but I think it was a nice style. Again the suggested price was $25. I've paid more than that for a Cockburn 10-year tawny port.

We were treated to a 1966 Rocha Tawny Port (5-star vintage according to Michael Broadbent). Darker tawny color, clear. Tastes quite young and fresh. Has some viscosity. Suggested retail: $66.

Also saw (didn't open the bottle) a promotional 3-Century Port of 1975 vintage, 20-year old Tawny, and blended with 1900 vintage. Retails at about $140-$150.

Suggested food pairings besides the traditional Stilton cheese, walnuts, chocolate and Creme Brulee--pork loin, duck with Port reduction, Asian fusion foods, shrimp with coconut, etc.

I liked all the Tawny Ports (and thought the one Ruby Port we tried, the 2000, was good for its type). Rocha is not as well known a name in the States as some but that may contribute to the reasonable prices. I will be on the lookout for Port from this house in the future. The name of the house is pronounced something like Roe sha (with a rolling 'R'; not a hard 'c' like Roe ka).


[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 02-24-2004).]