Port Of Call...

So I think I'm pretty well stocked up with cigars at this point -- I've got about five or six hundred, which I guess should last the afternoon. My bigger question has been, what about the Port?

Port is not for the very young, the vain and the active. It is the comfort of age and the companion of the scholar and the philosopher. -- Evelyn Waugh

I love port wine, but I'm an easy lush. I'm not as well versed as I probably should be because, if it's tawny and tempting, I'm drinking it. You have to be careful with Port though -- it's a wine fortified with brandy, and so you can really get hit hard quick. That's why it's usually served in such little cups.

I'll be doing that for the port tasting, since this isn't exactly inexpensive stuff. But when I'm alone on the patio, I have to admit -- it's goblet-fuls for me. What the heck, I'm not driving. And a nice smoke offset by the sweetness of a mellow, kitteny port is just relaxation heaven to me.

By the way, I've been eavesdropping in on this string of posts at the blog Crime & Federalism. It's fun to listen to these guys, especially the one who praises the inclusion of a Diet Coke. What he's learned is that a sweet beverage beautifully sets off the peppery, sharp draw of a cigar. Regular Coke works even better, in my opinion, but iced tea is a nice non-alcoholic alternative. It's why Port and cigars marry so well. And also why cigars match up terrifically with brandies, cognacs and scotch. Ohhh...my mouth is watering. Excuse me: I've got to take a Dewars break.

clinck, clinck, clinck....blub, blub, blub....glug, glug, glug....Ahhhh...

OK -- I'm back. So anyway, this isn't about the hard liquor, but about the Port. When I first thought about doing a port tasting, I really didn't give much thought to how I'd handle this with roughly 100 or so people visiting throughout the day. But a few months ago, I met Paul Connery, the new owner of Toast Wines in West Hartford. This is the store that used to be Spiritus, but the old owner kept the name when he sold the store in the center. Anyway, I mentioned to Paul that I was going to have this Big Stinkin' Cigar Party, with the thought that he and the manager at his fine store (and it really is a very nice wine store) could help me put together the Port tasting lineup.

"What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" -- W. C. Fields

Paul and Michael (the store manager) did get me a suggested lineup, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I emailed them a clarification, and they said they understood and promised to get back to me in a day or two with a new lineup.

So a day goes by.

And another.

And another.

And then I email the two of them with a reminder that I'm still waiting.

And I guess Toast Wines is incredibly busy, or its email server is incredibly slow, or I'm the most obnoxious guy out there (which, really, is very likely), but I never heard from them again.

I tried a couple of other wine stores, but none had either the selection I was seeking or the expertise to really make the picks count. That is, not until I swing into Dotcom Wines at Bishop's Corner in West Hartford, in the plaza behind Waldbaum's Foodmart. Nelson Veiga is the store's director of operations, and boy, did he know his port. We spent the better part of an hour going over the choices and how this would all work. So here's what he came up with:

We're going to start with a very nice Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) 1999 Porto from Taylor Fladgate. Actually, I didn't need Nelson to make this choice. A co-worker of mine, Rena Haefner, graciously gave me a bottle of this last year during the holidays. It's full-bodied, nutty and plum and clearly a strong contender for a tasting where lots of people's tastebuds will need a little massage after being coated with smoky wisps of pepper and caramel .

Nelson also picked out a so-called "California Fake" -- wines from California in the Port style, but made with traditional grapes, such as cabernet. I was pleased that he suggested an offering from Bogle, a petite shirah port. I tried this wine orginally a couple of weeks ago on the suggestion of the fine folks at Cork 'n' Bottle Liquors in West Hartford. The wine boasts a "concentration of raspberries, blackberries and chocolate flavors." My pals at Cork 'n' Bottle wisely suggested decanting this nectar, letting it breathe for a couple of days before drinking it. Mmmm. It was a real treat, fruity and surprising.

"I made wine out of raisins so I wouldn't have to wait for it to age." - Steven Wright

Now, my favorite type of Port is tawny, a sensuous, silky, fuzzy drink. Tawny is aged in wood barrels, and therefore exposed to more air than its bottle vintage siblings. Mr. Veiga pointed to a 10-year old Ramos Pinto tawny as his choice. I've never had this particular wine, but Nelson's picks were compelling so far, so I'm pretty sure I'll be pleased with this one. But the first I'll be trying it is at the party, so surprises may await me.

We've also got a very nice Barros 1997 Vintage port to help round out the selection. This is a nice rich, nutty and deep dessert wine, a very nice representative of the best Ports Portugal has to offer (and a nice way to tip my hat to the non-Sicilian side of my family!).

(And for those of you who've been clicking through on the port wine links above: Am I the only one who's noticed that people who own port wine vineyards also seem to own stock in the Flash Player company? Every website starts with a little movie. If they could only figure out how to actually dispense the wine over the Internet, they'd really have something...)

Nelson would probably blanch if he knew that I was also planning to include another selection. This is an Australian Port-style wine. It's called Clocktower by Yalumba. Australians like sweet wines they call "stickies," and this is in that style. It's very good with a cigar, and it comes in at only about $10 a bottle, which has got to be a terrific value overall.

Life is too short to drink bad wine. - Winston Churchill

So now, you may be wondering....uh, Vincenzo, where's the Churchill? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to have a few bottles of the really good stuff. I've even picked up a nice pair of bottles of Churchill's 2000 Vintage Porto. Delicious now, delectable in another 10 years. But we'll have to see how much of the primo stuff gets poured. You don't deaden your palate with three strong stogies, polish off a six-pack and then follow it with the Churchill's. We'll be sharing this with the folks who control themselves...and, probably, who bring a bribe. I like twenties.