Every once in a while, the stars align, and I'm able to accept one of the wine dinner invites that come into my inbox. When the promise is some great Portuguese wines paired by a Portuguese wine expert with Chris Cosentino's creative food at Cockscomb, I clear my calendar! All the Portuguese tastings that I have attended have always had some well aged surprise in the mix, and this was no exception. This dinner was hosted by the Port and Douro Wines Institute. There was also a large scale trade tasting that I could not attend due to schedule conflicts.
Rather than a bite-and-sip-by-sip account, I think it's more important to share a few key findings and a couple of top wines to look for. I was told that all these wines are available in the U.S.
Key Findings
1. ALL Porto is to be served chilled. Our host, Rui Falcao, said "There is no other way! In Portugal, if you serve Port warm, you will be shot!" And he's right. As we dug into the topic a bit more, it makes sense. Because Porto, in all its varieties, is fortified, so when it's warm, the first thing that hits your nose is not the wine, but the alcohol. If the wine is chilled (and the wines we had were chilled well below the 52 degrees our host suggested) the aromas of the wine come first, the deliciousness comes second, and the alcohol comes third. This was exemplified by having 2 chilled Tawny Portos, one fabulous 40 year S. Leonardo, and a Colhieta (vintage tawny) 1947 Feurheerd's. When I saw the condensation on the glass after pouring the 1947, I swallowed a little gasp, but sure enough, it was amazing chilled. As the evening goes on, and the wine warms up a bit, you are ready to deal with the alcohol on the nose. Revelatory.
2. Americans...get over your varietal fixation. Portuguese winemakers are masters of the blend. There are hundreds of different grape varieties in Portugal, and to make matters more complex, some have over 20 different regional names. Yes, there are some big famous grapes, like Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, but don't put the bottle back on the wine store shelf because you can't find the varietals listed on the label. Look instead for the region, producer, and the year. What's inside is a blend, and it's often a field blend.
Field blends are a pretty foreign concept in the U.S. because our country is so young. In ancient wine country, fields of vines were developed both by natural selection --the vines would die off, or by the farmer would cull the vines that don't produce what they desire, or the government dictated what could be planted in each region. Because in Old Europe, they depend on rain, not irrigation, to make grapes grow, each region finds that different grapes thrive. Winemakers get what the region provides.
3. Portuguese whites can be very serious and exciting wines. Too many times, the whites are synonymous with simple summer quaffing in mind. Take another look, and see if you can find the two beauties below, for instance.
For more information on Portuguese wines, I recommend The Wines and Vineyards of Portugal, by Richard Mayson.
My favorite wines of the evening: 
Oscar's DouroWhite 2014, by Quevedo
This was our sipping wine as we arrived and it's freshness and mineral salinity was balanced by a lovely verbena aroma. Delicious and affordable.
This was our sipping wine as we arrived and it's freshness and mineral salinity was balanced by a lovely verbena aroma. Delicious and affordable.
Redoma Reserva Branco 2014, from Niepoort
The white of the night for me, and it was perfectly paired with the Quail Tetrazzini with mushrooms, foie gras, fideos, and creme rouge. Very serious, but still very lively and fresh. Matched the depth of the foie gras beautifully. This comes in around $40.00 here in the U.S. Recommended
The white of the night for me, and it was perfectly paired with the Quail Tetrazzini with mushrooms, foie gras, fideos, and creme rouge. Very serious, but still very lively and fresh. Matched the depth of the foie gras beautifully. This comes in around $40.00 here in the U.S. Recommended
Quinta do Crasto Douro Reserva Old Vines 2012
This is a concentrated, ristretto-kind of wine, very old vines and a field blend from 3 locations in the Douro. Around $40.00 U.S.
This is a concentrated, ristretto-kind of wine, very old vines and a field blend from 3 locations in the Douro. Around $40.00 U.S.
NV S. Leonardo Porto 40 year Tawny
I loved this 40-year! I have had several 40-year Tawnys in recent years and they have all seemed a tad dried out to me. This still has some great sweetness and didn't taste raisin-like. I will look for this one! A treasure at around $150.00 U.S. if you can find it. Delicious with dessert, a Banana cream pie.
I loved this 40-year! I have had several 40-year Tawnys in recent years and they have all seemed a tad dried out to me. This still has some great sweetness and didn't taste raisin-like. I will look for this one! A treasure at around $150.00 U.S. if you can find it. Delicious with dessert, a Banana cream pie.
The mind-blower of the night. Our hosted whispered to me that this was coming later, and I was anticipating this all evening. And it was worth the wait. Incredibly lively for a wine 69 years old! I was told it was bottled in 2014, which makes me even more surprised how vibrant this wine was. Aged tawny ports, marked Colhieta (Portuguese for Harvest), are always some of my favorite things. This bottle had heady caramel aromas and vivid acidity. Highly recommended.
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