Attributes:

Niepoort

Oporto, Other

Vintage Port

750 ML

2003: WineSpectator Rating: 94

full-bodied

black pepper, blackberries, raspberries

sweet

2000: WineSpectator Rating: 91

full-bodied

berries, flowers

sweet

Food Matches:

The second city of Portugal and its commercial centre is Oporto. It is the city that gives its name to the port wine variety. The grapes for port wines are grown in the harsh conditions of the Douro valley and shipped down river to Oporto to be crushed and vinified into the uniquely strong and sweet port wines enjoyed around the world.

Vintage Port, a fortified Portuguese wine, is the best known and most sought after type of port. Made from a mixture of red grapes, it is produced only in good years when conditions are favorable for the production of a fine wine. The decision to declare a vintage is made by each individual port house and all the grapes included come from top vineyards in that vintage. Vintage ports are aged in barrels for a maximum of two and half years and then require another 10 to 30 years in the bottle before they are ready. Since they are aged in barrels for only a short time, they retain their dark red color and full-bodied strong fruit flavor. Younger vintage ports remain exuberant and powerful, while the older varieties have more finesse and integration, a result of the slow maturation process. To maintain its intensity, Vintage Port is neither fined nor filtered and throws a great deal of sediment as it matures and must be decanted. The flagship style of port, Vintage Port represents only 2-3 % of the total Port production. (See PORT for more information on the region and fortification process.)

Attributes:

Longview

Adelaide Hills, Australia/New Zealand

Sauvignon Blanc

750 ML

Food Matches:

One of Australia’s most famous “cool climate” regions, known for its Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.

Comes mostly from California, France, New Zealand, and South Africa. Its highly acidic wines are often suggestive of herbs or grass. Light to medium bodied and usually dry, European versions are generally not oaky while California Sauvignon Blanc can take on many of the qualities of Chardonnay. France has two classic wine regions for the Sauvignon Blanc gape: Bordeaux and the Loire Valley The Bordeaux wine is called Bordeaux Blanc and the two best known of the Loire wines are called Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé. In Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc is sometimes blended with Sémillon.

Attributes:

Blandy's

Madeira, Other

Madeira

750 ML

NV: WineSpectator Rating: 88

rich

delicious, pleasant

NV: WineSpectator Rating: 86

tangy

butterscotch, coffee

NV: WineSpectator Rating: 89

fresh, lively

elegant

apricot, raisin, smoke, spicy notes

Food Matches:

Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. The wine is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own as an aperitif, to sweet wines more usually consumed with dessert. Cheaper versions are often flavored with salt and pepper for use in cooking. The islands of Madeira have a long winemaking history dating back to the Age of Exploration when Madeira was a standard port of call for ships heading to the New World or East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral grape spirits were added. On the long sea voyages, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavor of the wine as the wine producers of Madeira found out when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip. Today, Madeira is noted for its unique winemaking process which involves heating the wine up to temperatures as high as 140°F for an extended period of time and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of oxidation. Due to this unique process, Madeira is a very robust wine that can be quite long lived even after being opened.