LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2022

OLDWORLD

Head for Port It was standard practice in the mid 1600s for English wine shippers to pour a hefty amount of brandy into a barrel of Portuguese wine to stabilize it for the voyage north. Travelling up the Douro Valley in 1678, they found the Abbot of Lamego adding brandy during instead of after fermenta tion (a technique mastered earlier by Catalans in Roussillon). It killed the natural yeasts before they could turn all the sugars in the grape must into alcohol, and left a wine that was deep, potent, vibrant, packed with fruitiness—and sweet. Port, as we know it, was born. Since then, the wine has evolved into a dozen or more styles, largely differentiated by quality and the amount of time they spend ageing in wood. At one end of the spectrum is Vintage port, bottled after only 20 months, as soon as its premium qual ity is realized. It then ages very slowly, ready in 20 years but continuing to improve. At the other end, aged tawny stays in wood for decades, changing colour, interacting with oxygen and oak, developing its own amazing aromatic intricacies.

WHITE PORT If you could turn a freshly baked apple-and-almond Danish pastry into wine, this would be

it. Briefly wood aged, Fonseca

White Port (LCBO 276816, $19.25) is made like red port

but from white grapes, almost

masking its 20 per cent ABV beneath

a satin-smooth texture. Often

mixed with tonic, ice and fresh mint as a long aperitif, it also repays a solo visit on the rocks.

LBV—THE MVP › Seeking a ready-to-drink port with Vintage-like depth, Taylor Fladgate invented the Late Bottled Vintage style in 1970. Six years in oak give the 2017 ( LCBO 46946, $19.95 ) a precocious maturity but black fruit aromas are still bright, backed up by licorice and mocha notes. Full-bodied and powerful, it’s amazing with a mature goat cheese. VINTAGE YEAR › Caves Santa Marta was the first ever Portuguese cooperative to produce a Vintage port. Its 2000 is at last available (VINTAGES 26680, $59.95, Dec. 17 release), vibrant, vinous, spicy and surprisingly light on its feet. Look

for plum jam and mulberries, prunes and dates, and an impressive length. Decant it carefully and drink within 24 hours. TAWNY SORCERY › At about 18 months of age, every young port is assessed and its future decided. Some of the finest are put into small oak casks for 10, 20, 30 or 40 years before being bottled. An aged tawny such as Graham’s 20 Years Old (LCBO 620641, 500 mL, $41.95) conjures up a fascinating mosaic of caramel, nut and citrus illusions that fade delightfully slowly on the palate. Lasts for weeks when opened.

THE GRAPES Port can be made from at least 30 different varieties of indigenous Portuguese grapes, most of them red. Listing them is a good party trick, but the point is that port is a blend, which contributes a lot to its complexity.

ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID SPARSHOTT

164 FOOD & DRINK HOLIDAY 2022