Port recommendations?

[pattimw]

I don't know much about port and don't even know where to begin picking one out. I was thinking of doing port with some chocolate truffles for Valentine's dessert tomorrow. Does anyone know of any good ones for less than $25? Bear with me, I don't even know what price a decent port will fetch....

Thanks!

[Jason Perlow]

For drinking with chocolates I would suggest a Ruby port (2-3 years old). We're usually talking less than $20. Graham, Warre, Sandeman and several other producers make good rubys.

More complex than Ruby you get into Tawnies (20 years old or more) which are really apertif-type wines and also Vintage ports ($$$) , which really go better with things like blue cheese than chocolate

[Brad Ballinger]

If you wish to have Port with chocolate, I can second Jason's recommendation for Ruby over Tawny (which I prefer with nuts). There are some "proprietary" ports from reputable producers that are ruby ports, but might not include the word "ruby" on the label. Examples are Fonseca's Bin 27, Warre's Warrior, Graham's Six Grapes. If you want to step it up a bit, and still stay under $25, you may wish to consider a Late Bottled Vintage Port (these will be labeled as such).

Other wines that people like to pair with chocolate are Banyuls and Maury, both from the extreme south of France near the sea and the border with Spain. You can find some "standard" ones in your price range. Many think these wines have chocolate flavors in the wine itself. Hence, their reason to pair it with chocolate.

[paul mitchell]

My favorite everyday drinker is Delaforce Late Bottle Vintage.

[Mark Sommelier]

I don't know much about port and don't even know where to begin picking one out. I was thinking of doing port with some chocolate truffles for Valentine's dessert tomorrow. Does anyone know of any good ones for less than $25? Bear with me, I don't even know what price a decent port will fetch....

Thanks!

Graham's 6 Grapes or Warre's Warrior should cost you less than $25.

[Jason Perlow]

Yeah, both of these are good entry-level ports and are widely avalaible.

There are some nice American port-like wines as well, but they are hard to find.

[jackal10]

Any LBV - Late bottled Vintage. The chocolate will kill it anyway.

[wnissen]

Whatever you do, stay away from chocolate flavored "ports." It sounds like it might be an interesting combination, akin to serving milk and dark chocolate alongside each other. It's not. The port will taste like used coffee grounds. Otherwise I think any port will work.

Walt

[chefrodrigo]

I'll second the Banyuls reccomendation if you happen to see one while you are shopping. Domaine du Mas Blanc is a favorite.

Rodney

[pattimw]

I'll second the Banyuls reccomendation if you happen to see one while you are shopping. Domaine du Mas Blanc is a favorite.

Rodney

It's so funny- before I read these responses, I was the perusing the aisles at the wine shop I work at part time. I came across the Banyuls, and remembering the manager recommended it with chocolate, I decided to give it a go. I was originally going to just have some nice dark chocolates with it, but ended up making molten chocolate cakes instead. I was somewhat disappointed by the match - the cakes made the wine seem really harsh. I felt it didn't enhance it at all, but I think that may be the addition of other ingredients to the cakes (like eggs and butter). With just chocolate, like truffles or something, I think it may have been different. Or perhaps it was the little scoop of vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce I served with it? There was probably too much going on there.

However, we had some friends over for dinner on Tuesday and I made an almond cake that had 7 oz almond paste, 2.5 sticks of butter and 6 eggs, only 1 cup of flour. Sounds incredibly dense, but it was much lighter than it sounds. I served it with some raspberry sauce as well. We had some leftover Banyuls (love my vacuum saver!!) and decided to give it a try. I thought that this was a much more complimentary match - I didn't feel that the flavors were battling each other in my mouth.

[Brad Ballinger]

I was somewhat disappointed by the match - the cakes made the wine seem really harsh.

Although I responded with some recommendations for Port and Banyuls, my favorite beverage with chocolate is coffee. It isn't even close. But you asked about wine, so...

My guess as to what made the Banyuls appear harsh is a coupld of things -- your dessert was very rich and quite sweet (dark chocolate on its own with a high cacao percentage would be less so). Pairing wines with desserts can be difficult. If the food is much sweeter than the wine, the wine will come across as harsh every time. Your second dessert was lighter, more acidic (raspberry sauce) and perhaps less "thickly" sweet, and the same wine proved to be a decent match.

[pattimw]

I was somewhat disappointed by the match - the cakes made the wine seem really harsh.

Although I responded with some recommendations for Port and Banyuls, my favorite beverage with chocolate is coffee. It isn't even close. But you asked about wine, so...

My guess as to what made the Banyuls appear harsh is a coupld of things -- your dessert was very rich and quite sweet (dark chocolate on its own with a high cacao percentage would be less so). Pairing wines with desserts can be difficult. If the food is much sweeter than the wine, the wine will come across as harsh every time. Your second dessert was lighter, more acidic (raspberry sauce) and perhaps less "thickly" sweet, and the same wine proved to be a decent match.

Yes, I thought it had something to do with the way I prepared the cake....I do think it would have been better with some plain semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate. The Banyuls is definitely something I will go back to - thank you for the recommendation.

[Pouncy]

My fiancee's favourite chocolate/port combo is Whidbey's Port and Callebaut dark chocolate.

Whidbey's is from Whidbey Island in Washington State, and a little hard to get outside the Puget Sound area, but at 12 bucks a bottle, we load up everytime we visit my family in the area. We have a bottle of 86 we're prolly going to crack open at our wedding, but the 98, 99 and 2000 are consistently great.

Our friends most frequent comment is "Damn, this doesn't taste like a twelve dollar port!"