Cheese lovers know that port is traditional (and magical) with Stilton. Blue cheese in general loves port, in fact. Spicy, salty, savory blue becomes balanced and almost demure when you add a beverage with layers of fruit and nut character.
That said, the port is all too often made the default blue cheese pairing and ignored as a pairing for other cheeses. That is a mistake.
By pairing cheese with port, it brings out elegant aromatics and fascinating flavor notes, yes, but also can bring out more complexity from the port. Eugénio Jardim, the US ambassador for Wines of Portugal, believes that port wines are often misunderstood as overly sweet wines. “Some port houses,” he says, “Actually pride themselves in producing wines that can have quite a savory character to them.”
By pairing cheese with these ports, the savory character of both can become more pronounced. Even those who don’t think of themselves as fans of sweet wine can find a port that they love if it’s properly paired.
Jardim continues, “The enjoyment of cheese with sweeter wines has endured and crossed over generation boundaries. Port wines, white, tawny, ruby or the highly prized and rare vintage ports, are recognized and appreciated by all as sublime pairings for many different types of cheeses.”
Looking for a sublime port pairing for your next cheese board? Here are a few exceptional options.
White, such as Taylor Fladgate Fine White Port
Tasting notes: Rich, fragrant nose with aromas of mellow fruit and hints of honey and oak. Full body, velvety palate, and a long silky finish.
Cheeses to Pair: An 8-10 month Comté’s flavors of lightly toasted hazelnuts and steamed milk become even more delicate and dessert-like with a glass of white port. A balanced washed rind like Grey Barn’s Prufrock develops notes of toasted sesame oil.
Ruby, such as Fonseca Bin 27 Port
Tasting notes: Deep, youthful ruby color. Intense rich fruity nose crammed with pure blackberry, cassis, cherry and plum aromas interwoven with notes of spice.
Cheeses to Pair: When paired with fresh goat cheese, ruby port takes on a sour cherry pie flavor that’s totally stunning. It’s also excellent with the classic Portuguese thistle rennet cheese Zimbro—the lemon notes in the cheese bring out the florality of the wine.
Tawny Port, such as Sandeman 10YO Aged Tawny Port
Tasting notes: A dark amber color, bursting with flavors of orange and tangerine peels, dried strawberries, raisins, and prunes.
Cheeses to Pair: Enjoy with creamy blue cheese like Gorgonzola or Cambozola black, whose smooth texture will match the texture of the port. To play up the nutty notes, try with a sheep’s milk cheese like Manchego, Bellwether Farms San Andreas, or P’tit Basque.
A More Aged Bottle, such as Sandeman 30YO Aged Tawny Port
Tasting notes: The flavors of orange peel, black fig, date and rose come to fruition after years of gradual exposure to air through wooden casks during the extended aging process.
Cheeses to Pair: Not all aged wines are great with aged cheeses, but a crystalline, butterscotchy aged gouda like Beemster XO or L’Amuse makes a majestic pairing with an older tawny. The dusky floral component of the tawny would also play nicely with something like a young goat gouda.