Ruby port

Porto ruby

What it is

Ruby is held in vats large enough that almost no air reaches the wine, then bottled young — the opposite intention to tawny, which is left in small casks precisely so that it oxidises. What it brings a sauce is colour and grip: anthocyanin and tannin from Touriga Nacional skins, trodden in the best lodges still by foot in granite lagares.

In the kitchen

Reduce it by two-thirds on its own before it meets the stock; added late it stays sweet and raw. A bay leaf and a strip of orange in the reduction keep it from reading as jam against game.

Goes with

Venison Fig Blue cheese Black pepper Cherry Orange

Same species

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP Amontillado Armagnac Banyuls Brandy de Jerez Champagne vinegar

Also used with

Fourme d’Ambert Oriental Beauty oolong Queijo Serra da Estrela Shropshire Blue Gorgonzola piccante

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