Drinks advice

Strawberries and black pepper with Cálem Porto Fine Ruby

In the little bowl are halved strawberries that have stood for an hour with dark soft brown sugar and balsamic vinegar, with coarsely ground black pepper and a few mint leaves over them. Opposite that the port is a young ruby, whose red fruit sits alongside that of the strawberry.

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Strawberries and black pepper
Photo: Ewan-M, CC BY-SA 2.0

From the shelf

The bottle

Calem is a port house from 1859 with lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia. The Porto Fine Ruby is the ruby from the permanent range. A ruby is the youngest style of port: according to Wines of Portugal it usually matures for up to about three years in cask and comes into as little contact with oxygen as possible, so that the colour stays ruby red and the red fruit takes centre stage. The bottle is 20 percent alcohol and comes in 75 centilitres. For port in the ruby style, the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto recommends a serving temperature of 12 to 16 degrees.

Cálem Porto Fine Ruby

The combination

Why this works together

This is the simplest form of pairing: the same fruit on the plate and in the glass. A young ruby has hardly seen any oxidation and therefore smells of fresh red fruit, and a strawberry that has stood with sugar for an hour brings exactly that. But more happens. The hour of macerating draws juice from the strawberry and dissolves the sugar in it, so that a light syrup forms; that syrup is sweeter than the fruit alone, and that stops the port from overpowering the plate. The balsamic vinegar brings acidity, and acidity is what keeps a sweet plate and a sweet glass standing side by side. And the coarsely ground black pepper is no whim: a young ruby has a peppery, lightly spicy side, and the pepper on the strawberry draws that forward instead of letting it sink away.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 1 hour and 10 minutes
  • Type dessert

What you need

  • 300 g small strawberries, washed, hulled and halved
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar
  • coarsely ground black pepper
  • a few mint leaves

How to make it

  1. Put the strawberries in a bowl.
  2. Sprinkle the soft brown sugar over it and pour the balsamic vinegar alongside.
  3. Gently fold everything together so the strawberries do not break.
  4. Let the dish stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
  5. Then grind a little black pepper over it.
  6. Spoon the strawberries into small bowls and pour the juice from the dish over them. Finish with the mint leaves.

In the glass

Serving

Serve this ruby at 12 to 16 degrees; a quarter of an hour in the fridge usually brings a bottle from room temperature to that point. Use a tulip-shaped glass and fill it no more than a third. Decanting is not necessary: this style is young and was fined before bottling. According to the institute, an opened bottle of ruby keeps well for eight to ten days; store it upright in a cool place with the cork in.

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