Mr Grumpy: Wine & food mis-matching
OPINION: Kingsley Wood, owner of First Glass Wines & Spirits in Takapuna, is a man of habit.
I received an invitation to attend the one-day event – travel and accommodation courtesy of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto but declined with thanks.
I will, however, celebrate the event by opening a bottle of vintage port using my port tongs. I went through a bit of a “vintage port stage” many years ago and bought quite a bit from several producers and various vintages. Hot tip – If you ever see Dow 1980 at auction, buy it. The vintage has an average reputation but the wine is spectacular.
I don’t drink port very often (who does?) but when I do I use my tongs to decapitate the bottle with cork intact. All my vintage port is 1985 or older, making it very difficult to extract old and crumbly corks. The solution is to heat my tongs until they are red hot, clamp them around the neck of the bottle before removing the tongs and applying a damp cloth. There is an audible “click” and the neck lifts off the bottle with intact cork inside. Careful decanting removes the wine from the sediment.
If you are struggling to think of a present for the wine enthusiast who has everything, port tongs could be the answer.
