For The Love Of Port

hi .i am new to this forum and i cant wait to explore all the topics but my impatience pushed me to ask ..
what are the most delicious cheeses do you pair with your port? i occasionally like to do this and it works well if you
serve a nice port at a party or gathering. i would appreciate any suggestions or favorites. thanks

There are a lot of cheeses that go well with Port. Three of my favorites are:

1. Queijo da Serra da Estrela from Portugal
2. Manchego from Spain (I prefer younger ones for this purpose)
3. Coastal Cheddar from England

Hi Paul,

We look forward to your participation and thanks for joining us here at .

I am going to move this to the correct place on our Forum, but please know it will still be accessible from where you originally posted it too.

Like Glenn, I'd also pick those same 3 cheeses and would also add Stilton, depending on the type of Port and also smoked Gouda which I find goes exceptionally well with Tawny Port. I know it is not a cheese that everyone likes though. I also really enjoy Cambazola with Ports that are really young and especially LBV.

Great topic!

Hi Paul,

I don't know where in the world you live but if you have access to cheeses from the UK I would recommend Wensleydale and Waterloo. I normally only have cheese with a young, full-bodied port and both of these go well with the sweetness of fruit.

As for what to have with a mature Port, I would recommend another glass of mature Port

Derek

+1 on the Cambazola and the Wensleydale. You'll notice I served both in this tasting. Well, I picked the Wensleydale with cranberries. I don't know how Derek feels about that.

I'd like to add:

Gruyère and Comté
Parmaesan

Great thread! I've been meaning to ask about this as well. I tried Stilton cheese with the last bottle of port I opened (which was waaaaaay too long ago) and found it not to be to my liking. I had several types of cheese and crackers, a good crab dip recipe, and a few other odds and ends. In the end, I found that each of them distracted from the experience of what was in my glass at the time. So here's another vote for "another glass of port"!

Eric

Eric S wrote:Great thread! I've been meaning to ask about this as well. I tried Stilton cheese with the last bottle of port I opened (which was waaaaaay too long ago) and found it not to be to my liking.

Stilton is quite particular and it was quite some time and many tries until I had one that made sense with port. Not a lot of fancy Stiliton is on the shelf at my supermarket.

Honestly, there are many cheese that go well with port. Port and cheese pairings I feel many put too much thought into. Pick your port, pick you cheese and start drinking. Cured meats and nuts work well along with crusty bread and custard dessert.

I bought some aged Gouda today, one year old, which I thought might go well with an older VP, 1965. I think an very old Gouda might be too strong for that year, but might go well with a younger VP.

Eric Menchen wrote:I think an very old Gouda might be too strong for that year, but might go well with a younger VP.

I find that to be true in general. Younger (and softer) cheeses seem to me to go better with Port overall, but particularly with older more elegant Ports or with Tawnies.

A very old Gouda, like two years old, doesn't taste like Parmesan, but it has that kind of intensity, perhaps even more, and while enjoyable in context, I think it would overpower a more nuanced wine. (I thought about using the actual Dutch terms to describe the age of the cheese, but apparently there is some debate as to how old an "oude" or "overjarige" cheese is, at least I'm led to believe that looking at this. Maybe there is a standard, or maybe this is kind of like "10 year old" tawny.)

Blue cheese and a pretty dry LBV is never wrong in my book.
And yes, pairing wine and cheese can be tough, some cheeses are just too powerful, even for Port. I guess it depends on what you like, as everything else.

I just posted a photo of a great wheel of Colton Bassett Stilton cheese that had been marinating in Port wine. It is in PORTraits on our homepage.