Any Port in a Storm

So I spent all day Sunday landscaping and doing other crap all around my yard (I made a freaking rock garden for crying out loud) and after a full day in the sun the only thing I felt like cooking for dinner was a small plate of leftover Lasagna and a cold beer, except I didn’t have any beer in the house and was too lazy to run down to the corner store and get some and there was no wine open and I knew I wouldn’t get to a whole bottle, so I drank water.  Double Turds.

Since there’s no wine and food report for this Sunday I’ll go back to last Sunday when I told you that I had a really fantastic wine and food pairing.

1987 Taylor-Fladgate Quinta de Vargellas Oporto served with a really good Gorgonzola and some other sweet stuff.

The sweet stuff aside (some, umm, interesting fig and cocoa spread), the real treat here was the classic pairing of the sweet port with the tangy, pungent blue cheese.  This really is one of the most classic and no-brainer combinations in wine and food pairing.  It’s a universally accepted truism that sweet neutralizes bitter and this is never more true in with port and gorgonzola.  The subtle, balanced sweetness of this well aged wine showed just enough nuttiness and just enough fresh raspberry and dark fruit to mute the salty bite of the blue, and instead drew out the creamy sweet side of the cheese.

It was also a treat drinking this wine because it was a bottle that my friends had opened the night before to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary.  My friend’s wife (who I suppose is, by extension, my friend too) bought this bottle from me 5 years ago with the intention of opening it on their 10th anniversary.  Little did I know I would be a lucky recipient of a few glasses.  If I had known that I’d have sold her two.

As mentioned, the wine was made by Taylor-Fladgate, one of the best producers in Oporto.  The wine was from a single vineyard, or Quinta.  Vargellas is one of Taylor-Fladgate’s best vineyards, certainly their oldest, and is the primary source of their top juice when a vintage is declared (more on that later).  When a vintage is not declared, as was the case in 1987, a winery is free to put a vintage date on the label, so long as a single Quinta is also noted.   Let it be said that I did not get into the wine business because I have a great love and knowledge of Port that I need to share with the world, but I have had the fortunate opportunity to drink some amazing port (including the doctor friend of mine in the Red Stick that had a seemingly endless supply of 1977 Fonseca) and I know a hit when I see it.  This was indeed a hit, and one I highly reccomend, however you certainly don’t need to grab a “special” bottle to enjoy what is a fantastic food and wine pairing.

Happy week!

Post Script:

I wasn’t going to bore you with this, but I’m too excited about it to let it go (further proof that I really am a geek).  One of the things I did today was to start my own herb and vegetable garden.  I have an “ugly side” of the house I bought last year that I’ve been ignoring since I moved in.  It’s a long, narrow side yard with no gate and its where the A/C lives, however it has a good sized patch of grass and, most important, uninterrupted sunlight all day long which makes it perfect for a garden.  So, I fired up the tiller, weeded the thing and in the ground went all kinds of stuff like Radicchio, Summer Squash, Heirloom Tomatoes, Sunflowers, Zucchini, Orange Thyme, Basil, Chili Peppers, Flat Leaf Parsley and Fava Beans, the latter I’ll no doubt enjoy with some liver and a nice Cheeee-anti.  Here’s 4 pictures of absolutely nothing and here’s hoping for postive results.

Popularity: 1% [?]