98 YEARS OLD AND STILL HEADING FOR PORT...

ALWAYS ready to offer advice and the benefits of my long experience to our overseas friends, and even readier to gorge on delicious food, I accepted an invitation last week to dinner at the Rib Room restaurant at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge.

The event was hosted by a young fellow from Graham’s Port, and since the Anglo- Portuguese alliance dates back to 1373 and is often described as the oldest alliance still in force, I felt it incumbent upon me to help them in any way I could, particularly if part of that help involved scoffing a five course meal designed around five different varieties of Graham’s Port.

The trouble with the English, our Portuguese friend and ally explained without a trace of acrimony, as I savoured pan seared scallops with raisin puree, roasted cauliflower and a delicious white port sauce, is that we look upon port as an after- dinner, or Christmas- with- stilton drink.

I pondered the matter over a glass of white port before moving on to a plate of seared foie gras with glazed pork belly and fig jus served with a 10- year- old Tawny port.

The French and Portuguese, our host explained, are happy to drink port just like any other wine during a meal.

The late bottled 2009 vintage, I must admit, went very well with the next course of venison loin and a delicious slow cooked venison and stilton pie with buttered baby carrots and blackberry jus. Could it be we British have been getting it all wrong about port? I wondered.

I chewed the matter over as I was chewing the last bits of venison, but the perfect solution to the problem did not strike me until the Cherry Bakewell crème brûlée arrived with a magnificent blob of dark chocolate sorbet and a glass of 20- year- old tawny to keep it company.

“Do you think,” I asked our host, “that the long- standing alliance between Britain and Portugal may lie at the heart of your problem letting the British know how versatile port is? We did not, after all, begin to appreciate the joys of Argentine wine, particularly their malbec and torrontés wines, until after the Falklands war. A bit of hostility may be just what the Portuguese need to give a competitive edge to the marketing of port. Have you considered invading Gibraltar?”

I could tell from his silence that the fellow had been struck dumb by the audacity of my suggestion, so I let him think about it while I complimented the chef, Ian Rudge, on his outstanding port- matching menu, especially the amazing venison pie.

As I finished the meal with the perfectly British Organic stilton, with quince, truffle honey and walnut bread, washed down with Six Grapes Reserve Port, which I believe was Churchill’s favourite, I heard our host explaining to someone else that he was not in England for long but the following day would be hosting a similar meal at the Portuguese embassy. Good man! He must have arranged it while I was talking to Ian Rudge to inform them of my idea. “Don’t forget to tell them about Gibraltar,” I said as I left.