For The Love Of Port

Dear FTLOP members,

I imagine that if you are Port lovers, there are great chances that you also enjoy other fortified wines, like Madeira (I hope I am right in this assumption ). Since wine and food are tied to each other, I am very curious to find your opinions and experiences pairing Madeira in general (Terrantez in particular) with food. My main questions would be:
1.) Different styles (levels of sweetness and acidity) with what foods?
2.) In which aspects we could go different from Port?
3.) As aperitif or along main courses? Which one?
4.) How to use acidity to compensate richness?
5.) I love unusual: please share the funkiest (and delicious), most exotic experiences you had pairing this wine.

Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you!
Thamis Esteves-Mendez

Hi Thamis,

As you and I are good friends and drinking buddies people may be slow to answer someone who just pops up here. So please know that Thamis is not only a neighbor but is going for her MS certification and has a great palate. She speaks fluent Portuguese and loves Port and Madeira in addition to nearly every other type of wine.

I will reserve my own comments in response to the questions posed, to give everyone else a chance to Thamis and provide some feedback on the topics at hand.

Greetings Tahmis,

One of the interesting aspects about Madeira is that you can pair a whole meal with Madeiras. This is partially because Madeiras have a range of sweetness and dryness tha helps make matching easier. That being said, you have to be judicious on what you pair. I try to match the flavor profile of the wine to the course. Madeira pairs nicely with beef flavors, for example. One good match is French onion soup with Sercial or Verdelho. The beef in the soup marries well with the wine. I just read in John Danza's post about the Rare Wine Co.'s Historic Series Boston Bual that he tried a Tiramusu that matched very well.

I did an all Madeira tasting with our International Wine & Food Society group last October in Omaha. Some of the board members were skeptical that an all Madeira carte des vins could work, but they were all raving afterwards. Of course, having an 1863 Barbeito Bual in the lineup was a tremendous draw, as most had never tried a 19th century wine before. Here was the menu:

IWFS OMAHA BRANCH
6 OCTOBER 2011
MADEIRA TASTING & DINNER

Hors d’Oeuvres

Passed Hors d’Oeuvres Rare Wine Co. Le Mesnil Grand Cru, Champagne


Soup

French Onion Soup Rare Wine Co. Historic Series
Charleston Sercial Madeira
1978 Barbeito Sercial

Poultry


Duck breast with Rare Wine Co. Historic Series
Rose Orange Madeira Sauce Savannah Verdelho Madeira
Sweet potato with ginger and lime 1978 Barbeito Verdelho

Ice

Lemon ice

Entrée


Skirt Steak, Vidalia Onions 1978 Barbeito Bual
Glace de Viande au Madère
Tuscan White Beans 1863 Barbeito Bual

Dessert


Honey Spice Cake Rare Wine Co. Historic Series
New York Malmsey
Cantucci (Italian almond cookie) 1989 D’Olivera Malvasia

So, you just have to get your feet wet and experiment with different food and Madeira pairings. The order went from dry (Sercial) to sweet (Malmsey / Malvasia) here.

Tom Murnan

Hello Thamis,
I love Port, but Madeira is my favorite wine. The classic paring is Verdelho with turtle soup. I've had that in New Orleans, and it is a fantastic match. The turtle soup there is very rich made with a dark roux. The acidity and richness of the Verdelho match very well. I know Roy has mentioned Verdelho with fried chicken, but I admit I've not tried it yet. I like my Terrantez with Verdelho level of sweetness, so those versions should match well as well.
Madiera is a very rich wine with lots of extract and lots of balancing acidity so it matches very rich dishes.
I think Bual and Malvasia match with chocolate better than Port because it is richer and denser.

Easter Greetings Thamis,

I think one thing I forgot to say was that if you can add Madeira to the sauce, even better if it is the same type of Madeira you are drinking (eg, you would not want to put the 1863 in a sauce, but use a younger Bual, in the above menu's case),it also enchances the wine tremendously.

Tom Murnan

Thank you very much for the presentation and nice words, Roy. Coming from you it is a great complement to know I have a good palate.
Tom, I am inspired by reading this amazing menu you posted, in create a dinner 100% paired with madeira.
Eric, one of my thoughts were if the acidity and richness in Madeira would "cut" through rich plates, even spice ones. Thanks for giving the Turtle Soup example, that answered that.
Once in Bordeaux, at a Master of Wine Symposium, they offered a lunch paired 100% Sauternes with Chinese food (it was very hard to follow the masterclasses after that ) and it was spectacular.
I think I am deciding what to do now. I hope Roy would help me here: I am going to do a dinner party based on Brazilian/Portuguese cuisine (flavor wise, basically it will be where Portugal meets Africa in the Amazon Forest kind of a thing). I just need to find some real good bacalhau and banana leaves. Roy, would you take the challenge with me, advising me on the way (and of course, coming for dinner) please? Let's do it in June, when the two musketeers from Vancouver will be on town. What do you think? Eric and Tom, if you live in Seattle, please come too.
Again, thanks and I wish you all HAPPY EASTER!
Thamis

Hi Thamis,

Eric, Tom and I will all be in Porto and Madeira in June, but depends on the date. We can certainly work something out.

Reminds me about something else, I'll send you an email.


Roy

Spice yes. The turtle soup I alluded to did have quite abit of spice. It was New Orleans after al!

Thamis,

I live in Omaha, Nebraska, a pretty good distance from Seattle!

Tom Murnan