Unusual Port Wine Pairings Worth Trying at Least Once

Someone once told me, quite firmly, that Port only goes with cheese and chocolate. I poured her a chilled glass of White Port next to a plate of oysters we'd had brought up from the coast that morning, mostly to see her face. She went quiet for a second, took a second oyster, and asked why nobody had told her this before.

The classic pairings earn their reputation for a reason, and they're worth knowing. But some of the best combinations I've come across at the quinta are the ones nobody expects, and they tend to make more sense on the palate than they do on paper.

White Port and oysters, colder and saltier than you'd expect

White Port served properly cold has more in common with a crisp aperitif than with the syrupy image most people carry around in their heads. Against something briny like oysters, its acidity cuts straight through the salt, and its faint honeyed note stops the whole thing from tasting austere. It's not a pairing you'll find on many menus, but it's one I'd put up against most white wines in the same spot.

Tawny and pastel de nata, closer to home

This is the pairing I'd actually put in front of a visitor, not a borrowed French one. The caramelised, slightly burnt top of a good pastel de nata and the dusting of cinnamon underneath both echo the toffee and dried fruit a Tawny picks up from years in wood, so the two taste like they were always meant to sit together. If you're closer to the Douro itself rather than the coast, a slice of torta de amêndoa does the same job even better, the almonds are grown on hillsides not far from where the Port was aged.

Ruby with something properly spicy

Chouriço grilled until the skin blisters, or a curry with real heat behind it: both work with Ruby Port better than most people assume. The wine's straightforward sweetness gives the heat something to push against instead of just adding fuel to it, and its bright fruit stays noticeable rather than getting scorched off the palate. It's an easy one to try at home, and an easy one to be wrong about until you actually pour it.

The pairing that sounds like a joke until you try it

Port and salted popcorn. I know how that reads. But the salt and the crunch do exactly what a good pairing is supposed to do, they reset the palate between sips and make the wine's sweetness taste brighter each time. A glass of Tawny and a bowl of popcorn on the sofa is a far more honest way to drink Port on a Tuesday evening than most of the formal pairing advice out there, and it happens to work.

None of these are rules. They're just what happens when you stop assuming a wine this old has to be treated carefully, and start treating it like what it actually is: something made to be poured next to good food and paid attention to, whatever that food happens to be.