For The Love Of Port

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/dinin ... il0=y&_r=0

So what is your favorite wine to have with steak?

Port and steak, what do you think of the pairing?

Prefer Douro wine w/ steak ... (if so, choose one and let us know which it would be)?

I can't say I am huge on port with steaks, but for dry wines, any of my favorites will do. I think there's too much thought into wine and steak pairings.

Give me a Cote Rotie, Burgundy, Douro, Dao, Rioja, Barolo... any dry wine that I like to drink is fine by me.

To be technical about it, I would side towards heavy tannin Italian wines like Barolo, old school Chianti, or Barbarossa.

Don't hear many Americans who have even heard of Barbarossa. Can you find much in Boston?

Bradley Bogdan wrote:Don't hear many Americans who have even heard of Barbarossa. Can you find much in Boston?

No, not well known at all. Been working on a case of '83 I really love. It's in a great stage right now with little rush to drink up. Think it's a great steak wine

I like Port with steak, but it generally needs to be a lightly seasoned steak (no strong flavors other than black pepper and salt) and this is the one case where I do lean toward a drier Port. I find Noval Black to be too dry for casual drinking, but it goes great with steak!

I have wondered how the Fonseca 2007 lbv would fare if pared w steak...
Thinking it would work out pretty well! Need to test it at some point :)

Something tells me a steak like flank, that usually comes with a fairly strongly flavored sauce, could do well with a white port. Perhaps a chimichuri (sp?) sauce?

Miguel Simoes wrote:I have wondered how the Fonseca 2007 lbv would fare if pared w steak...
Thinking it would work out pretty well! Need to test it at some point :)

I've done that combo. I think LBVs or ruby reserves go very well with a simple grilled steak. Steak au poivre is a great way to go also.

Miguel Simoes wrote:I have wondered how the Fonseca 2007 lbv would fare if pared w steak...
Thinking it would work out pretty well! Need to test it at some point :)

It works great! And John's steak au poivre recommendation is a good one.

Port and steak works great, but I generally prefer a younger fruit driven Ruby style Port and not an older VP.

I still tend to prefer my ports on their own, and I'd find them a bit sweet for steak as a general rule.
I can tell you that this time last week I was at a steakhoue and was able to bring a couple of bottles of wine.
While I often go with Cab Sav this time I chose 2 bottles of shiraz that were a fair way apart stylistically
Unsurprisingly they were both Australian - first was a medium bodied 06 from the Heathcote region, while the second was a mor full bodied 98 from the Clare Valley. All four of us prefered the Heathcote which was more savoury, elegant and spicy with the steak, though both were nice wines. The other thing I occasionally like with a steak is a nice porter.

I just had to come back. I read this thread immediately before dinner, and whilst eating mentioned to my wife that some people had suggested Port with steak:- "NO!! Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Definetly not." I counted and it was "no" times 5 after the first exclamation. I simply cannot imagine having Port with steak. Absolutely wrong, and it would totally interfere with following courses.

I do think our tastes change though. When I was young Cab Sauv was my favourite single varietal with steak, although I preferred any claret if I could afford it. At 35 I moved to Australia to farm, and gradually moved towards Shiraz, South Australian as a rule. Back in Scotland next and I tended to go for Eastern European or Chilean "blood" tasting reds. Here in Portugal, there is no doubt that I prefer a good Baga, although sometimes I will try an aged Douro that my wife is having, because that is what she prefers. An old Dão would suit many people. We only have fillet as steak, and by the way, flank is not a steak cut. For other beef dishes, say a Strogonoff or Boeuf Bourgignon, almost any big, heavy red will do, but Guinness goes particularly well with Strogonoff too, and steak pies.