How Do You Pair Vintage Port With Food?
Vintage Port Wines are essentially sweet, fortified dessert wines from Portugal. Yet, it was the English who invented Port in the mid-1700s. In order for wine to survive the long journey from Portugal to England, Brandy was added to preserve the wine. These wines were called “Fortified Wines” and later became known as “Port,” named for the seaport city of Porto. As you may know, Vintage Port, like vintage wine, comes from a particular year and is considered finer than non-vintage. However, unlike wine, not every year is declared a vintage for port. The decision to declare a vintage is made by individual port houses. This is based on the quality of the grape crop in a particular year. For more information, see “How to Buy and Serve Vintage Port Wine,” (Resources). Keep in mind, as a sweet, viscous wine with heavy sediment, Port is very limited in how well it can be paired with food. Because of that, Vintage Port has become a highly desirable way to end a dinner and is now served as a ve
