At one time, port and dessert wines were the essential end to a truly fine meal. The indulgence was justified by the thought that savoring a digestif restored peace to the stomach after a sumptuous dinner. It was a pleasure with medicinal value. Lean back in your chair, stretch out your legs and swirl the liquid in your glass: Now the real conversation begins.
It's no wonder, then, that these wines occupy a diminished place among drinking fashions in contemporary times. Our lifestyles seldom encourage lingering at the table. In convenience stores, folks blast their bento lunches in the microwave and wolf them down at their desks. Fast-food patrons glug scalding, industrial coffee in their cars. There is little grace to it. We ingest calories, while the soul is deprived of nourishment.
Port and dessert wines have their own rhythm. They cannot be gulped. Nor is food essential with these wines. They are a coda to a meal, best accompanied by music and candles or firelight and talk. Because they are so rich and ripe in sweetness, they are better with walnuts or toasted almonds and a sliver of good, salty cheese (think Stilton, Roquefort, Forme d'Ambert, or a hard, aged cheese like Mimolette or pecorino) rather than a dessert. If you have a sweet tooth, however, you may favor a chunk of dark, faintly bitter chocolate with your port -- or a buttery fruit tart with your white dessert wine, such as Sauternes.