Anthony Gismondi: A glass of port is a civilized way to spend an evening

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on wine producers who export worldwide, and the holiday season will only increase difficulties as shipping schedules falter and costs soar.

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We have heard a lot about Champagne shortages, and similar issues are popping up among importers of all international wines. As a result, it has been suggested many wines will spend the holidays on the high seas or in off-loaded, but not yet, de-stuffed containers in the port.

The other “port,” or fortified wine, is a category that could be spared some of the trauma as mentioned above. Port, in particular, is a slow but steady seller and may be one wine we have all the supply of we need. Given the rain, snow and sleet pelting B.C. since last month, a glass of port sounds like a civilized way to spend an evening to me.

Two weeks out from Christmas, let’s quickly run through two of the major port styles to help you better sort through all the offerings. The best-known forms are Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage (LBV). At its purest, Vintage Port produces a single harvest from one climatically splendid growing season. After fermentation and fortification (with locally produced spirit), it is aged about 24 months in wood before heading for the bottle, capable of being cellared for decades.

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Its earlier-drinking sidekick, LBV port, is essentially wood-aged in a well-used barrel at least two more years than Vintage Port, if not longer, depending on the producer. At bottling, most LBVs are filtered and are ready for immediate consumption from that point forward. Exceptions to the rule are a small but growing number of “Traditional” LBVs that go into the bottle unfiltered after spending a little less than four years in wood. It is a technique that leaves the wines much closer to a true Vintage Port style, allowing them to age in the bottle and throw a deposit.

Here is a shortlist of interesting bottles that are ready to drink. You will find them in government and private wine stores over the next few days or as long as supplies last.

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• Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port ($23.99) comes in a tight, more restrained style, only slowly revealing itself as you taste it sip by sip. It is drinking well now, especially with Black Forest Cake.

• Warre’s Warrior Special Reserve ($21.99/$13.99) is the oldest Port marque, shipped continuously since the 1750s. It’s still being made the same way — aged in seasoned oak casks for four to five years before being drawn off and bottled following a light filtration.

• Graham Six Grapes Reserve Port ($23.99) is thoroughly modern, fresh, and fruity, and ready to drink. It’s sweet in the Graham style with plenty of soft plummy fruit, yet the textures and finish are mellow.

• Smith Woodhouse Traditional Late Bottled Vintage 2008 ($39.99) comes with a “Traditional” moniker, but it is anything but. At Smith Woodhouse, ‘traditional’ means that after four years of cask aging, the wines are bottled unfiltered and cellared for at least an additional four years before being released for sale. So it was bottled in 2012, without any fining or filtering; it was then aged in bottle for a further six years in the Smith Woodhouse lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. The result is a flavourful sumptuous style of port wine that walks a tightrope between LBV and Vintage Port. Stilton anyone?

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• If you want to go green this year, check out the Fonseca Terra Prima Organic Reserve Port ($29.99). As the first entirely organic Port wine, Terra Prima made history right down to the spirit used for fortification. It was a project instigated and overseen by Fonseca chief winemaker David Guimaraens.

• Firmer and less fiery than Fonseca’s No. 27 or First Reserve, brown spices lead this distinctive reserve port, with caramelized sugar, molasses, sugar plums, cassis jam, sweet tobacco and fine black pepper. It is getting better every time it is made. As the weather cools down across the country, there is no better time to get fortified.

Weekend wine picks

Cockburn’s Special Reserve Porto N/V, Douro Valley, Portugal

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$20.99 I 90/100

UPC: 5010867801141

It’s been a decade since Cockburn joined the Symington family, and it’s fair to say the renovation and renewal of the storied Port brand have brought it back to its original glossy, smooth “Reserve” style. Special Reserve goes through a long period of wood aging (four to five years). As a result, there’s more body than a Ruby and less tannin than a Vintage Port, leaving it eminently drinkable. Look for spicy cherry fruit flavours, and with its slightly longer fermentation process, there’s less “sweet fruit” and slightly more grip to this port. Once opened, it will keep well for several weeks. Great with cheese or nutty cakes and chocolate or on its own on a snowy afternoon.

Taylor Fladgate First Estate Reserve Port N/V, Douro Valley, Portugal

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$22.99 I 89/100

UPC: 5013626111260

This reserve ruby port is aged for three to four years in a combination of oak vats and casks to make it ready to drink on release while retaining an appealing, fruity style. It is more developed than its sister Fonseca reserve ports, combining rich black fruits with sweet spices and walnut. The complexity is above the norm for the category, with soft, smooth tannins that make this a solid, dependable port for just about any occasion.

Croft Vintage Port 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal

$109.99 I 95/100

UPC: 5602418005292

We love the job The Fladgate Group has done at Croft, completely restoring its reputation and glory and putting it back in the high-level stakes game of Vintage Port. Fragrant, open, generous, mildly showy, this port is ready to go, especially for those who prefer their port full of youth and fruit. The attack mixes sweet cassis and blackcurrants with a savoury firm undercurrent and relatively high acid for Croft. The finish is prolonged and flecked with brown spices. There is no need to open this until 2025 or store it for at least two decades.

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Fonseca Vintage Port 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal

$149.99 I 97/100

UPC: 5013521100543

Fonseca seldom, if ever, disappoints. From its deep, almost opaque colour to its inviting, intense, pure fruited nose, it lures you into the glass with great expectations. Look for black cherries, blackberries, menthol, violets and more to swirl out of the glass above the rich, jammy, hedonistic fruit that persists in the mouth for minutes. The key here is a fine level of acidity that stretches the wine out from front to back, keeping it fresh and exposing a richness of texture that sets it apart from most of its peers. A brilliant wine and one that will go the distance well into the second half of this century.

Graham’s Vintage Port 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal

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$125.99 I 96/100

UPC: 05010867403000

If you want to know why field blends are so revered in Portugal, taste this sensational bottle, half of which is made with an old field blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca. The Graham charm factor is off the charts in 2016. The attack is warm, broad, juicy and massive but with details that keep it all in line. Gobs of dark fruit sit over a beam of acidity that maintains an inner brightness, less you think it’s all just show. It may not age forever, but it will drink forever, starting right now.

Recipe match: Harvest salad

This recipe proves that salads aren’t just for the summertime. Created by the team at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant , the dish features roasted Brussels sprouts, goat cheese and dried cranberries for a hearty filling of greens that would make for a perfect side or main, perhaps with an additional protein added into the mixed.

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Harvest salad

2-3 beets steamed and sliced

1 package mixed green salad

4 oz (114 g) goat cheese

3 tbsp (45 g) dried cranberries

1/2 lb (226 g) Brussels sprouts

3 tbsp (45 g) pecans, halved or chopped

1 cup cooked barley

Salt and pepper, to taste

Steam 2-3 beets and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes to an hour. Cook one cup of barley and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

Trim outer leaves from 1/2 pound of Brussels sprouts, toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 400° for approximately 10 minutes or until leaves are crispy.

Toss mixed greens in a bowl with dressing (recipe below). Place goat cheese, dried cranberries, pecans, beets and barley in salad and toss.   Add crispy Brussels sprout leaves as a garnish to the top of the salad.

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Serves approximately five people. 

Dressing

1 tsp (5 mL) honey

1/2 tbsp (7.5 L) Dijon mustard

1 1/4 tbsp (18.5 g) chopped shallots

1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil

2 tbsp (30 mL) apple cider vinegar

1 clove garlic crushed

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Yields approximately 3/4 cup.

Recipe match

A rich fall harvest salad takes us to intense white wines that freshen the plate but stand up to the flavours of the moment. 

Pfaff Pinot Gris 2020, Alsace, France $22.99

Lush and lengthy with sweet melon fruit and spicy ginger notes throughout its just off-dry palate, it will easily take on this rich salad.

Modest Wines The Elder Vicar 2019, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada $21.99 

A mouthful of fruity, floral, off-dry, yellow fruit transports you to Alsace and the Edelzwickers of old that will refresh the salad with every bite.