With winter closing in, the high season for port should be coming soon. Diners can order it almost anywhere - at steakhouses, bistros, fine-dining establishments - either by the glass or by the bottle. And yet I don't know anyone who really does. This observation has led me to believe that port may be the most misunderstood after-dinner drink in the city. People have a sense of what it is - a fortified wine (brandy is added during fermentation) in a fancy bottle. But many would describe it as just some sweet, heavy, expensive booze for old guys. I asked a few wine directors and port sellers to address these mischaracterizations.
Sure, some are sweet. Gloriously so. Desserts unto themselves. But there are lighter, drier varieties. Wine and spirits director Tarcisio Costa offers 52 ports at Alfama (551 Hudson St at Perry St, 212-645-2500), including four types of white (extra-dry, semidry, regular and supersweet). Tawny ports (literally brownish) are considered the easiest to drink; many are dry and nutty. But even a vintage port, like Prager's 2003 Royal Escort (made from 100 percent petite syrah grape and aged for 2.5 years in oak) is more tangy and tannic than sweet.
"In Portugal, some people order white port and tonic," says Marie-Louise Schÿler, director of communications for the Quinta Do Noval brand. "It works really well when it's hot and you want something refreshing." Costa features port in several of Alfama's cocktails: He uses tawny in both the Shirley Temptress (which also has Ponte de Amarante brandy, grenadine, fresh lime juice and Pernod) and the Alcântara (Canadian Club, Grand Marnier, fresh lemon juice and Angostura bitters). Extra-dry white port can be sipped neat or on the rocks, or with a twist.
Though you can find vintage ports for hundreds of dollars a bottle, a single glass of ruby (a blend from several harvests) or tawny often costs less than ten bucks - cheaper than many wines. Michael Greenlee, wine director at Gotham Bar & Grill (12 E 12th St between Fifth Ave and University Pl, 212-620-4020), offers a glass of Fonseca Bin No. 27 Port for just $7.50 (a bottle of vintage 1955 Warres, however, goes for $650). The least expensive ports are meant to be consumed immediately; aging will have little effect.
Port has this dusty image of being an old man's drink - to be consumed "by the fire after a good meal," admits Schÿler. Indeed, its history dates back hundreds of years (the British started importing it when they couldn't get French wines). And its popularity may have peaked during the 1990s. "People drank a lot of port with cigars when that was an option," explains Greenlee. "Then it slowed down... [but] in the last five years we've seen steady growth." Ports are around 20 percent alcohol by volume - they won't rip your throat as they go down - making them thoroughly approachable when compared to digestifs at 40 percent ABV or more.
I haven't even mentioned the other six or so types of port. Or the grapes used. The most consistently confusing issue involves the word vintage. Quickly stated: If the label says vintage character, it is a blend of young ports designed to taste like a vintage port - but it's not the real deal. If it says late bottled vintage, it has been made from the grapes of a single vineyard (unlike rubys and tawnys) - usually from a year deemed not good enough to make true vintage port. Only about two percent of bottles are no-kidding-around vintage ports. So myth No. 5, I am sad to report, is not a myth at all.
