There aren’t many domestic ports that can stand up to Portugal’s great port wines but one of them is Mount Pleasant Port from Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta, Missouri of all places.
You may or may not recall Lord Chesterfield’s famous wisecrack about the custom of giving a case of vintage port to a boy at his birth because by the time the port was ready to drink, the boy would be ready to drink it.
Last night as part of our Easter celebration we opened one of our decades-old bottles of Mount Pleasant vintage port, pictured. This was done with a certain amount of trepidation. Opening a bottle of wine is an irrevocable act—once done it cannot be undone and you can never be completely certain of the results.
In this particular case I was delighted. Although the cork disintegrated almost completely as it was withdrawn from the bottle, the wine had matured and mellowed over the years. It was drier, more nuanced, and overall tremendously improved by its lengthy slumber. A delightful experience. We paired the port with chocolate and strawberries, a classic combination. For those of you who think our lifestyle lavish, I ate 10g of chocolate and one strawberry. You don’t need to eat and drink a lot to eat and drink well.
To your good health!
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