How To Drink Port Wine (Essential Tips, Delicious Food Pairings)

Wondering how to drink Port wine the right way?

You can serve this Douro Valley fortified wine as a dessert, as an aperitif (if it’s White Port), or even whip up a delicious cocktail with it!

Let’s explore how to drink Port, including some quick serving tips, food pairings, and some brilliant Port cocktail recipes.

How To Drink Port Wine

Vintage Port wine starts to reach its peak after 15 years of aging. Some of them age for several decades as well. So, it’s best to choose an older bottle.

However, an old Port wine bottle would be difficult to open because the cork would’ve become fragile. Use a handy Waiter’s Friend corkscrew to open your wine bottle.

Now, let’s see how to serve this exotic drink.

How To Serve Port Wine

• Serving portion: Port wine is best served in 3-ounce (75ml) portions at 13-20°C. So, a full 750 ml bottle can serve up to 10 people.

• Serving temperature: Rose Port wine and White Port wine should be served slightly colder at 4oC-10oC.

• Glass for serving Port Wine: Use a dessert wine, Port glass, or white wine glass to capture its flavors.

• Should you decant Port wine? Yes. Use a decanter for Vintage Port wine and Crusted Port (unfiltered LBV.) Decanting these Ports for 2-3 hours helps settle the sediment. If you don’t have a decanter, simply leave the bottle upright for up to 30 minutes for decanting. Filtered LBV Port (Late Bottles Vintage), Tawny, and Colheita Port don’t need decanting.

Best Food Pairings With Port Wine

Ruby Port, Reserve Port, and filtered LBV have an intense fruity taste that perfectly pairs with cheese.

Young Tawny Port wines go perfectly with a ripe Pecorino or apple crumb. Aged Tawny pairs best with nutty cheese.

Vintage Port wine tastes best with blue cheese and dried fruit.

White Port wine is best served as an aperitif.

How Quickly Should You Drink Port Wine?

If stored under the right conditions, you can enjoy an open Tawny Port wine for a few months. 

Vintage character Port wines like Late Bottled Vintage Port and Aged Tawny stay good for a week or two.

The ideal place to store this red wine is in an underground wine cellar or a cool, dark storage space (~53ºF) with minimal vibrations. But, if you don't have one, a wine fridge will work too.

Now, what if you have some leftover Port after your party?

3 Mouthwatering Port Wine Cocktails

You can spike up your drink with a little Port wine to give it a layered flavor. 

It adds a distinct sweetness to the cocktail, just like Sherry. You can also add it to brandy or whisky cocktails to moderate their alcohol content.

Here are three great Port cocktails to serve at your next party:

• White Port wine and tonic: Stir equal parts of White Port and tonic water with ice, garnish, and serve.

• Ruby Royale: Pour an ounce of Ruby Port into a flute and top with 3 ounces of sparkling wine. 

• Pink Port Cocktail: In a mixing bowl, mix two strawberries and 4-5 mint leaves with 3 ounces of Rose Port wine. Top with ice and transfer to a flute and pour in 3 ounces of soda water.

If you still have some Port left, here’s what you could do with it:

Using Port Wine In Cooking

You can also use Ruby or Tawny Port wine to make a delicious sauce that will give your dishes a brilliant complexity.

• Add bay leaf, pepper, and lemon juice for salty dishes to give your sauce a deep complexity.

• For a dessert sauce, simply reduce a sweet wine like Tawny Port by boiling it for 15-20 minutes.

Wondering what a Tawny Port or any Port tastes like?

Port Wine: Taste And Styles

Different Port wine styles have different flavors.

• White Port wine is made from white grapes grown near the Douro river like Malvasia Fina. It has citrus zest, roasted nuts, apples, and apricot flavors.

• Tawny Port wine has soft caramel, nuts, figs, and plum flavour. Aged tawny has stronger nuttiness.

• Ruby Port wine is made entirely from red grape varieties and has an intense fruity taste.

• Vintage Port wine is aged in a wooden barrel which gives it oak notes.

• A Reserve Port wine has deeper flavors of raspberries, blackberries, and cinnamon.

Time to Sip A Glass Of Delicious Port Wine!

Savor this delectable fortified wine with your favorite dessert or serve a White Port as an opening drink to a memorable evening.

If you’re looking to add a fine Vintage Port bottle from a prestigious Port house to your cellar, then you need to invest in the right bottle. 

A leading wine investment company like Vinovest will help you by handpicking authentic fine wines from across the globe, storing them in world-class bonded warehouses, and more.