Serious Port in the 21st century is somewhat overlooked and misunderstood. In my humble opinion great Port ranks with the very finest wines in the world and nothing that immediately comes to mind could ever give me more pleasure than the lion’s share of a bottle of Taylor’s 1927 after an excellent dinner in good company with thoughtful wines. People more often than not complain that Port gives them a dreadful hangover with a remark to the effect of “I love Port but it doesn’t love me.” I have a number of retorts. Firstly I question the quality of the Port. Secondly I point out that the style of occasion at which Port is passed around the table is usually celebratory and as a result large quantities of everything are consumed and the decanter of Port falls foul of any restraint by the end of an evening. Thirdly, it is worth it. At the end of the day (or meal, which ever comes first!) there is only so much red wine that you can drink before your palate yearns for something a little more obviously delicious. Good Port provides a combination of a blissful, blousy violet scented nose and a rich complex palate that fortunately does not require a brain in perfect working order to fully appreciate all its charms. Add a cigar to this equation and you are beamed to another planet (Janet). Had Port and Cuban cigars existed two thousand years ago legend certainly would have had it that those who lived on Mount Olympus would have been doing little else other than smoking enormous phallic Havanas whilst quaffing the best vintage Port wines out of large ornate gilded horns with gay abandon (one can almost see the mosaic mural), which brings me onto drinking vessles.
Traditional Port glasses are faintly ridiculous, not only because they only hold a piffling quantity of liquid, but because they are unable to capture the stunning bouquet of the Port in the manner of a cognac or a wine glass. However small glasses do serve the purpose of ensuring the survival of the decanters precious cargo as it makes its perilous journey around the table. Perhaps this is why Port glasses devolved into Lilliputian thimbles.
As to why Port is traditionally passed to the left, Tim Stanley-Clark, the Godfather of the English Port trade, assures me that it is simply to ensure that a gentleman’s sword arm is not manoeuvring decanters in the unlikely event of self defence being required while passing the Port, but I am not convinced. Port as we know it today really earned its position at the table after dinner in the second half of the 19th century. So Port etiquette is relatively modern and within spitting distance of three generations. At this time Britania ruled the seas and much of the globe, and our control of the world’s oceans was at the very heart of our economic and military prowess. Naval jargon and terminology would very much have been in common every day usage. When Captain Jack Aubrey broke his biscuit at sea and explained to his subalterns that they had to chose between the better of two weevils he was enjoying a simple pun that was probably repeated endlessly for decades as a right of passage in the Royal Navy. Victorian society was preoccupied with order and symmetry and it makes sense for the decanter to go one way and the cheese another, so as Port became established as an integral part of any formal dinner some sort of ruling would have been irresistible to them. The question is why send the Port left? I simply imagine that a very poor pun was endlessly repeated and quickly became tradition and then etiquette, something along the lines of, “Pass the port Port penis breath.”
Port has also had a very insignificant influence on the evolution of the English Language. Most of us now when we hear any reference to Taylor’s think not of a well cut suit, but instead of a dusty bottle of delicious Port. Taylor’s is undoubtedly the pre-eminent Port house and the 10 and 20 year old Tawny Ports will balance beautifully with the first two cigars. Quinta de Vargellas is arguably the most renowned and prestigious estate in the Douro Valley and the 1998 is a text book example exhibiting lovely aromas of ripe fruit with a rich and powerful palate and will be perfectly matched with the full bodied, complex and spicy Partagas 8-9-8 1998.
Chris Forbes of Taylor’s Port and Simon Chase of Hunters & Frankau will host the evening.
PORT & CIGAR TASTING
Before dinner
The San Cristóbal de la Habana El Principe
4 3/8”/110mm x 42 ring gauge
Light to medium flavour
TAYLOR’S 10 YEAR OLD TAWNY
After dinner
The Trinidad Coloniales
5 ¼”/132mm x 44 ring gauge
Medium flavour
TAYLOR’S 20 YEAR OLD TAWNY
***
The Partagas 8-9-8 1998 Vintage
6 ¾”/170mm x 43 ring gauge
Full flavour
TAYLOR’S QUINTA DE VARGELLAS 1998
Vintage port
MENU
Ceviche of organic Scottish sea trout, spring onion & red chilli
or
Aberdeenshire steak tartare & Melba toast
Château Richemont Blanc 2006, AC Bordeaux
***
Roast Black legged chicken breast & gravy, organic carrots & Savoy cabbage
or
Roast Macsween haggis with mash & bashed neeps
Boisdale No.4 Claret 2003, A.C Bordeaux, Maison Sichel
***
Selection of farmhouse cheeses served with grapes, celery & quince jelly
Please contact Zoe Robinson on 020 7730 6922 (zoe@boisdale.co.uk) if you would like to attend this special event. The price is £55 Members; £65 Non Members. Time: 7.30pm for 8pm.
TASTING NOTES
TAYLOR’S 10 YEAR OLD TAWNY
Mellow and elegant combining delicate wood notes with rich aromas of mature fruit. Especially good with dishes made with chocolate or almonds.
20 YEAR OLD TAWNY
An aromatic personality with wonderful sweetness and length. A smoky, perfumed and woody nose. Intense flavours of toffee pudding and green walnuts make up the palate. A well made wine with great poise, length and balance.
QUINTA DE VARGELLAS 1998, VINTAGE PORT
Inky, almost purple-black in colour, the nose is very fragrant and perfumed with attractive scents of violets and cedarwood. The palate is full, soft and velvety with rich cedar and spice flavours. Good concentration with well balanced fruit and tannins and a delicious long finish.
