REMEMBERING THE JOYS OF A GOOD PORT

SERVE slightly chilled with fruity desserts, cakes, chocolate pudd and cheeses.

Wc22Oct12

David Ellis

THE Symington family in Portugal’s Douro Valley have been making Port for more that 350 years, with currently twelve Symingtons working in the family business – six of them the 13th generation of the family, and one, Paul being named Decanter Magazine’s Man of the Year 2012, the first time anyone from Portugal has ever received such recognition.

With 920ha (2300 acres) under grapes for Port making, the family is the biggest landowner in the Douro Valley, and when it recently acquired major competitor Cockburn’s it pushed combined sales of all the family’s Port companies to over one-third of all premium Ports world-wide.

Dan Murphy’s boasts it has virtually a Port from the Symington stable for every taste and every budget, with some five Cockburn’s ranging from just $19.99 for a Fine Tawny, to $59.99 for the top-of-the-range Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais Vintage Port, plus three Blandy’s Ports that are also sourced from Symington’s – a Madeira Five Year Old Malmsey and Aged 5 Years Bual Madeira ($29.99 each) and a Blandy’s Madeira 10 Year Old Malmsey at $49.99.

Many of us seem to have forgotten the enjoyment of a good port, but with Spring and Summer coming up, it can be a most delightful drop served lightly chilled with everything from fruity desserts to cakes, chocolate puddings and cheeses.

PUT on the table young with slow cooked lamb shanks.

ONE FOR LUNCH: VICTORIA’S    BlackJack Vineyards in the Harcourt Valley just south of Bendigo got more rain between January and March 2010 than they’d seen for the same period in around a decade, yet amazingly it did little damage and actually seemed to refresh the vines and nicely slow ripening just a tad.

Amongst the results is a 2010 BlackJack Block 6 Shiraz that’s come up as a really good red to drink young, particularly if you team it with something like flavoursome lamb shanks done in a slow cooker. You’ll find it at around $35-$40.

(NEED A FOOD/DRINK IDEA? Check out  http://www.vintnews.com )