Recommendations
Poached peaches with Cálem Port Lágrima
On the plate are whole white peaches briefly poached in a vanilla syrup and served cold, with some of the reduced syrup over them. The Lágrima is sweeter than the fruit and so keeps the flavour of the plate upright.
From the shelf
The bottle
Lágrima is the sweetest grade of white port. Cálem makes this wine in the Douro from Viosinho, Malvasia Fina, Verdelho and Códega; the grapes are harvested by hand, destemmed and crushed, and fermented with skin contact in stainless steel vats at 16 to 18 degrees, after which wine spirit is added as soon as the desired sweetness has been reached. The technical sheet gives 19.5 percent alcohol, 152 grams of residual sugar per litre and a total acidity of 3.4 grams per litre. The blend matures for at least three years in large and small oak casks and in stainless steel. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto classes everything above 130 grams of residual sugar per litre as very sweet, and this bottle is well above that. The house serves it between 8 and 10 degrees.
The combination
Why this works together
With a dessert there is one hard rule: the wine must be sweeter than the plate, otherwise it tastes sour. With 152 grams of residual sugar per litre, the Lágrima is above the poaching syrup of the peaches, and that settles the basis. The peach itself brings fruit acidity, and that is welcome, because at 3.4 grams per litre the wine has a low acidity; the acidity of the fruit gives the glass the freshness it does not have in excess itself. The vanilla from the syrup connects with the ripe, honeyed fruit that the house describes in this wine, so that plate and glass point in the same direction. Because both are served cold, the whole stays light instead of heavy, and in terms of weight a poached fruit is exactly the measure of a glass of white port.
At the table
The dish
- For 4 people
- Ready in 40 minutes, plus at least one night of chilling
- Type dessert
What you need
- 750 g white peaches, about 4
- 330 g fine caster sugar
- 750 ml water
- 1 vanilla pod
How to make it
- With the tip of a small knife, make a small nick at the bottom of each peach.
- Put the sugar and the water in a large pan. Slit the vanilla pod open lengthways, scrape the seeds into the pan and add the pod.
- Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, then turn the heat to high and bring the syrup to the boil.
- Let the peaches sink into the syrup and bring everything back to the boil. Immediately turn the heat down until the syrup barely trembles, and place a small saucer on the fruit so it stays submerged. Poach for five minutes, until just tender.
- Remove the saucer and lift the peaches into a bowl with a slotted spoon. Once they have cooled, the skin slips straight off the fruit.
- Put the syrup back on medium heat and let it reduce for about twenty minutes to about one litre. Let the syrup cool completely and then pour it over the peaches.
- Cover the dish and put it in the fridge. The source recipe lets the peaches stand for two to three days before they come to the table; one night is the minimum. In a tightly closed container they keep well for a week.
In the glass
Serving
Pour the Lágrima between 8 and 10 degrees, as the house indicates; the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto uses 6 to 10 degrees for white port. With a sweet wine the lower end of that band works best, because cold keeps the sweetness in check. Use a small tulip-shaped glass and do not fill it beyond a third. Decanting is not necessary. After opening, a modern-style white port keeps well for eight to ten days according to the institute and a traditionally made one for fifteen to twenty days; keep the bottle closed in the fridge.
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