… brought to you by your flirtatious friends at Vinesse
It’s day 2 of our countdown of “The Top 10 Sexy Wines of All-Time,” and we continue with a sweet… and seductive… treat.
The Top 10 Sexy Wines of All-Time
No. 9 — Any Port in a Storm
“It was a dark and stormy night.”
So began Snoopy’s never-completed romance novel in the wonderful “Peanuts” comic strip of the late Charles M. Schulz.
It was the perfect kind of night for romance. The perfect kind of night for wine.
Unfortunately, Snoopy was not a wine drinker; he preferred to quaff a nice, cold root beer.
So we shall bid adieu to our favorite beagle and get on with the romance.
And no wine says “romance” better on a dark and stormy night than Port.
Crafted from grapes grown in Portugal’s Douro Valley, Port is a fortified wine made from a number of different indigenous grape varieties — a varietal orgy, if you will.
Visit the Douro Valley, and you’ll feel as if time has stood still. You’ll have to look long and hard to find any of the fancy winemaking equipment that fills the cellars of California wineries. Instead, traditional techniques are embraced, which lends a handcrafted quality to the finished wines.
The three most common types of Port are labeled Ruby, Tawny and Vintage — and each scores high on the sexiness scale.
Ruby Port is young and vibrant, brimming with sweet red fruit flavors. When the weather has kept you and your Significant Other in for the night, it’s the perfect complement to a chocolate-dipped strawberry.
Tawny Port is golden amber in hue, and a big step up in quality. Because it’s aged in oak casks for a long period of time — sometimes 10 years, or 20, 30 or even 40 — its flavor spectrum veers away from fruit and toward brown sugar and nuts. A bowl of nuts – hazelnuts, roasted chestnuts, etc. – or chocolate-covered cherries add to its allure.
And then there is Vintage Port. It represents a single year in time, a single harvest season, and not every year is good enough to be designated a “vintage year.” The wine must be aged in oak casks for at least two years prior to release.
Some of the verbiage you may find on the label:
* “Late Bottle Vintage”
* “Traditional Late Bottle Vintage”
* “Vintage Character”
* “Reserve Port”
All Port wines will warm the soul and spark the flames of romance. They’ll just do it in different ways.
Think of Ruby Port as Drew Barrymore or Ashton Kutcher — young and full of fun.
Think of Tawny Port as Julia Roberts or Antonio Banderas — complex and engaging.
Think of Vintage Port as Bo Derek or George Clooney — mature and sophisticated.
And think of any Port… particularly during a storm, with flames flickering in the fireplace and your Significant Other snuggled next to you… as among the sexiest wines on Earth.
– – – – –
The 10 Sexy Wines of All-Time
The List So Far…
10. Moet & Chandon Champagne
9. Any Port in a Storm
Tomorrow: No. 8
