Montauk Wine Club Pulls Into Port for a Taste of Chocolate

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the Montauk Wine Club succumbed to a craving for chocolate, and what better accompaniment than some Port and other dessert wines. We had an interesting evening tasting a tawny port and a ruby port, both by the same vintner (W&J Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage and their Honor QH Porto Special Reserve), as well as a French muscat ( a Chapelle St. Arnoux Muscat Beaumes de Venise) and a Napa Robert Mondavi Moscato d’Oro.
The chocolate we tried came from Mast Brothers Chocolate of Brooklyn. These fellows roast and grind their own cocoa beans and then hand wrap the chocolate bars in papers they design themselves. We had two different chocolates – a dark chocolate with cocoa nibs (72% cacao) and a Dominican dark chocolate (74% cacao).
While continuously nibbling on chocolate, we started right out comparing a tawny and a ruby port. Normally, you’d think we could tell which was which by looking at the color, but the tawny that we tried had the same color as the ruby, even though it was a vintage port. The tawny was a dark ruby color with a hint of purple and slightly more viscous legs. Its aroma was potent and not so sweet. The nose had some complexity that made it less accessible, but fairly interesting nonetheless. The ruby, on the other hand, was slightly less viscous. Its aroma was simpler – more alcoholic with a greater effect on the nose.
When it came to taste, the tawny tasted quite smooth and even a bit bland. It was very fruity and sweet, but it had a hint of pepper. The ruby had a harsher less developed flavor. The real taste highlight, however, was the chocolate. In tasting the Dominican chocolate and the tawny port, it was virtually impossible to tell where one began and the other left off. The pairing of the two was absolutely seamless. This made the tawny port the unanimous favorite of the group. The same could not be said for the chocolate-ruby combination, but no one would be bothered being stranded outside of port with these two in tow.
The French vs. Napa muscat tasting was a sublime aromatherapy experience. The French version had a wonderful, floral aroma reminiscent of a gardenia corsage while the Napa was decidedly citrusy in comparison. These aromas carried over to the taste. The French was very flowery like a Chanel perfume until a bit of apricot snuck through. The Napa tasted of green apple with a bit of honey and a little bite on the tongue. Nevertheless, the Napa was the unanimous favorite of this tasting.
Both were good with the chocolate, though not quite the exquisite experience we found with the ports. The Napa actually presented a contrast with the chocolate, cleansing the palate of it. We thought we might prefer these wines with poached pears and even cheese. And speaking of cheese, we were grateful for the Club chef’s lovely selection of a pecorino, a camembert and a delightful sheep’s milk cheese called Cottage Pleasure. When we ran out of chocolate, we were definitely not out of luck.
For our next gathering, we’re going to sail on over to Italy and taste our way around the Piedmont region. So don’t miss us on March 24 around 7:00 for more good cheer.

Suzy Marquard