Port steps up to share main menu

Lounging around the fireplace with a coveted stash of artisan chocolates in one hand and a glass of

port in the other is one of fall’s most decadent pleasures.

Sipping port doesn’t have to be a late-night cheese-and-chocolate-only affair. Port pairs well with a wide range of sweet — and savory — foods, making it the perfect honored guest at multicourse tasting dinners.

“Sure, port is great with cheese and chocolate, but it doesn’t have to be a dessert wine. Once you let yourself taste it with savory foods, a whole new world will open up,” says Peter Prager, winemaker at Prager Port Works in St. Helena, Calif.

Before opening that vintage ruby stashed in the back of the wine closet, get to know the different varieties of port.

True port, often labeled “porto” in the United States, is from the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. Many of the port-style fortified wines made throughout the world, labeled simply “port,” are less expensive than their Portuguese counterparts. Keep an eye out for port from good American, Australian or South African winemakers to keep your dinner party costs down.

Ports age gracefully — good news for those unopened bottles, bad news in terms of price. Even the youngest ports (ruby) require several years of aging to develop their characteristic sweet, jammy flavor.

The price of port varies greatly depending on the type of aging (bottle versus barrel), length of time aged (between 2 and as long as 100 years) and whether the grapes are from a single vineyard. Fortunately, with its high alcohol content (port is fortified with alcohol to develop sweetness) and rich flavor, small pours are preferable.

You can count on eight generous 3-ounce servings of port from a 750 ml bottle (compared to five skimpy 5-ounce glasses of wine), so you can afford to spend a little more on each bottle.

Start the evening with a glass of white port. They’re typically crisp and fruity, lighter than classic ruby ports, so they work beautifully as a first-course wine. Balance the fruitiness with rich, buttery dishes such as pan-seared scallops, mushroom bisque, ravioli with cream sauce or ricotta gnocchi with truffled corn puree, a favorite of executive chef Sean Hardy of the Peninsula Beverly Hills’ Belvedere restaurant.

Or try Peter Prager’s foolproof appetizer for fall: a chilled glass of Prager Aria White, a semisweet chardonnay port, served alongside a heaping platter of freshly shucked oysters. “Seafood and port? You bet. As long as it’s white port, the seafood is fresh and you leave well enough alone,” says Mr. Prager.

With your guests happily sipping port and slurping oysters, you can slip back to the kitchen to pop open the next bottle of port, although choosing between ruby, tawny, vintage or any of the half-dozen hybrid ports can be daunting.

MGM Mirage Las Vegas wine director Mark Thomas recommends starting with young ruby ports. “Too much complexity in a port — like an aged vintage port — can compete with your food. Look for ruby ports or younger vintage ports that will complement the food, not overwhelm it,” he advises.

For the second course, try chicken, veal or venison with nonvintage ruby port. Because these ports are aged a short time, they tend to be brighter and fruitier than their vintage and tawny counterparts. A bold, jammy sauce, especially one with port or other fortified wine such as sherry or Banyuls, will bridge the dish with the drink.

Top chefs around the country are using port and fortified-wine infused sauces to turn otherwise wine-only dishes into an amiable port companions. At Sona restaurant in Los Angeles, wine director Mark Mendoza recommends a ruby port with chef David Myers’ roulade of Fontina cheese and veal with wilted radicchio and port glaze. At Bacar Restaurant and Wine Salon in San Francisco, executive chef Robbie Lewis pairs ruby port with bacon-wrapped venison osso bucco and dried plum port salsa seca. At Tristan restaurant in South Carolina, chef Ciaran Duffy serves up roasted quail with mushrooms, truffles and Pirigueux (truffle and Madeira) sauce with a glass of ruby port.

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