Pairing Port Wine With Dessert

Drink port as a dessert by itself, or pair port and your favourite dessert.

Known most commonly as a dessert wine, port is a fortified wine made exclusively in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. While there are about 100 varieties of grapes that are sanctioned to produce Port Wine, only Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional are commonly used.

Tawny Port
The very character of tawny ports is dried fruit, nuttiness and caramel meaning they are a natural partner to dessert. For tawny I like something like a sticky toffee pudding and custard - the dates in the pudding go hand in hand with tawny flavours. Serving port with pudding is a longstanding & warmly embraced tradition at Taylor’s port. A gloriously indulgent pudding paired with just the right Port wine must surely be one of life’s greatest pleasures as suggested in - a tale of port and puddings or a guide to matching Taylors ports with dessert.

Colheita Port
Similar to tawny, a colheita port like the Krohn colheita port also works well with crème brulee or nut based desserts, like hazelnut praline.

Late Bottled Vintage
For chocolate-based desserts try a late bottled vintage port similar to the Ramos Pinto late bottled vintage port or the Fonseca Bin 27 premium reserve port, something robust enough to cut through the chocolate.