For The Love Of Port

It has been a few years since my last visit to the madeira oasis of Florida, Bern's Steak House. I have dinner reservations for Friday the 26th and I intend to select a flight of three madeiras from their considerable list. I would like to receive your suggestions, not necessarily for dessert, but to accompany the meal if the selections appeal to me.

Here is the link to their current list, which, to me, it is astounding.

http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/Portals/ ... pirits.pdf

I anticipate spending $100 for the wines, give or take $20. I am interested in variety, so I pre-disposed to half-ounce glasses. The 1880 Blandy’s Verdelho, the 1910 Lomelino Bual and the 1977 D’Oliveras Terrantez have piqued my interest.

If you need information about pairings, the soup course will be onion soup and the entrée will, of course, be a steak.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Joe D’Achille
Orlando, Florida

Afternoon salutations Joe.

to give some semblance of credibility to my thoughts , and without going through my c.v. and send you to sleep, i will simply say that i have a hotel background with the invevitable years spent in food and beverage.

i went back to my notes and came across some writing on a madeira dinner we organized at the N.Y. Drake some years ago. the main course, tournedos rossini was paired with two younger Terrantez (i can give you the specs. if you want) that worked very well with the softness of the meat and the richness of the sauce. good contrast between the onctuous and the young, ardent, peppery aspect of theTerrantez. Good balance as well
you may want to look at the 1976 Terrantez from Blandy, such a promising wine, or equivalent,

the onion soup segment is more challenging: onions, even 'fondus' are not the wine, almost any wine, best friend. a young, say 10 year old, Sercial, could work with the acidity, hold it's own and not be crushed by the soup.

but these are personal views and they can be challenged.

lastly two quick points:

it would be interesting to have Roy Hersch's take on this, after all he is one of America great f&b master and acknowledge as such. he does not need my endorsment.

finally you bring the endless, complex, highly subjective topic of pairing: would it not be interesting to have the experiences of our top level Madeira lovers
on this forum to share with other their experiences on this matter: what they tried, what worked, or not and why.

one last word Joe: Bon appétit!

philippe b.

Joe,

Here's my take ... although admittedly, I would not normally choose 3 ea. 1/2 pours but I get the reason for doing so:

Doing my very best to stay as close as possible to the $100 threshhold, my selections would be for a troika of Madeira to pair with steak ... in order from dry to sweet

1870 Lomelino Sercial $27 - Sercial and onion soup yummy. 19th Century = priceless story: "oh, I just happened to enjoy an 1870 Sercial the other night to accompany my onion soup ... "
1839 Oscar's Special Reserve Verdelho $44 - this is Oscar as in Acciaioly of course.
1934 Faja dos Padres Malvasia $30 - just because when else will you ever see this FdP offered?


Then I would finish off with a cheapie ... just for the heck of it:

Jose Maria da Fonseca Setubal 20-year-old 6.00
This is a delicious Moscatel de Setubal that I have always admired.

Philippe, thanks for the kind words!


Roy

I'd think about the 1912 D'Oliveria Verdelho, just because I love it so much. The 1978 Broadbent Terrantez also interests me because I've never had it.

Bern's is only ONE NIGHT AWAY!

Philippe, Roy and Eric:
Thanks for you replies and your suggestions.

I had been thinking about the 1880 Blandy's Verdelho ($34-.5 oz.) with the soup course, the 1977 D'Olivera's Reserve Terrantez ($48-1.5 oz.) after dinner, and the 1910 Lomelino Bual ($38-.5 oz.) after dessert. I focused on these selections because I have not had an opportunity to sample a vintage Blandy's or Lomelino, nor have I sampled a terrantez. Again, I am trying to incorporate as much "new experience" as possible.

Looking at your selections, I can see that the terrantez choice has Philippe's and Eric's support. I'll probably go with the D'Olivera's based on cost and the reviews I've seen at RWC. I had heard that sercial pairs well with onion soup, so I will probably go with Roy's and Phillipe's suggestion and change to the 1870 Lomelino Sercial, which gives me a little more $bucks$ for the bang. As Roy is "the man", I will try the 1934 FdP Malvasia. This brings me up to $105 if the prices are the same as posted. This flight certainly looks appealing

I do not know whether I will get to review your replies or not, but I was unsure about the terrantez WITH my steak. Based on Philippe's suggestion, and maybe some encouragement from the Bern's staff, I might opt for madeira instead of red wine with dinner.

Another superb evening at Bern’s!

We arrived early, planning to relax in the bar, but we were surprised to be seated within 15 minutes. I barely had a chance to review the btg wine list (the mrs. was interested in trying something different, but was not able to decide before we were seated).

Appetizer course = Bern’s House potato chips with black truffle crème fraiche
Madeira = Sandeman Rainwater 1.5 ounce
I was trying to keep things light before the meal. Actually, I have never had rainwater madeira, but it was soft enough to complement the crème fraiche.

Soup course = House onion soup au gratin (a palate-pleasing small portion)
Madeira = 1870 Lomelino Sercial (Roy’s suggestion)
--Roy was right - yummy. Bern’s serves a small portion of the soup as: 1) all meals include house offerings of soup, salad, vegetables and (shoestring) onion rings*, so a small portion is plenty; and, 2) the flavor of the soup needs to get out of the way before the steak-feasting begins. A .5 ounce portion of the wine was enough and was distinct after each taste of soup.

*(During the kitchen tour - don’t miss it - one learns they can serve 500 pounds of onion rings per night.)

Salad course (no Madeira pairing)

Entrée = 13 ounce chateaubriand with house mushrooms and standard (plentiful) accompaniments
Madeira = 1977 D’Olivera’s Reserve Terrantez 1.5 ounce
--Although I enjoyed the wine very much, there was not enough finish to compete with the beef. I think I would have enjoyed it more after the meal and before the kitchen tour.

Dessert course = Espresso and the “mr.” portion of the Dulce de leche molton cake (served upstairs in the Harry Waugh Dessert Room)
Madeira = 1934 Faja Dos Padres Malvasia
--Splendid closing act. Well-balanced, with a great rim-licking sweet finish.

The Jose Maria da Fonseca Setubal 20-year old Madeira - recommended by Roy - was, ironically, unavailable.

As you can tell, I am a “Bern’s - aholic”. One interesting story: During the wine cellar portion of the tour, we walked past the area dispensing wines btg, then to the area with the madeiras on shelves to the right. I estimated there were twenty or so bottles at least. The staff person told the story that some Madeira-crazed patron was seen pouring an 1820’s madeira into his glass, so they had to remove the super-expensive selections to a secure area.

When do we get to return?

sounds like a wonderful dinner, and a great side trip the next time i'm in florida.

thank you for the description of what, all in all, was a memorable evening Joe.
also a reminder of how difficult it is to pair great food with classic Madeira; if this was not the case Madeira would be such of a major player on the board.
a simple Muscadet from Les Frères Couillaud with the onion soup, a powerful, ample, assertive Léoville-Barton with the beef would probably worked out so much better. at a fraction of the price.....
life goes on....
cheers
philippe b.

I do have to make it to Bern's some day.