Port Wine & Bleu Cheese:A Perfect Dessert Combination

Dessert is often the favorite part of any meal. There are times where you almost feel you have to start with dessert... because when the time comes, you're probably too full for this course!

We have all been to those restaurants where the server brings out a big spread of every bit of sinful food hoping to lure you in. Our eyes are always bigger than our bellies. Of course all of these desserts are wonderful, but a lot of time you are just not in the mood for something so filling. Uptown has the answer!

Within the last year, we have been offering single cheeses from our Artisanal Sampler. You can now try any one of the 5 cheeses we offer, and this goes great as a dessert. I personally love cheese, and a creamy bleu with a glass of port wine is the perfect combination to end a great meal. 

It starts with the cheese, and our current bleu is wonderful. Big Wood's Bleu is produced by the Shepards Way dairy farm located in southeast Minnesota. This bleu is made from pasteurized sheep's milk aged 3-4 months that -  just as the name implies - has big, beefy flavor. Creamy and rich with a sharp finish makes this a perfectly balanced bleu.

There is no better complement to that sharp flavor than a taste of port wine. Port is a fortified wine made by adding brandy during fermentation. The addition of spirits kills the yeasts, which in turn halts the fermentation process. This results in a wine both sweet and high in alcohol. We encourage you try a relatively new port to our selection, Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora Do Carmo late bottle vintage.

Quinta Nova, which means "new farm," is a small vineyard located in the Duoro River Valley of Portugal that began in the 1700's. This a world-renowned grape growing region because of its excellent soil and growing conditions. Hot summers and cold wet winters combined with low humidity during the growing season provide high sugar and color concentrations of the grapes. Quinta Nova vintage port (the most famous and decadent of styles of port) has been bottle aged to give it that deep ruby fruit and color. This combination works wonderful with the flavors of this creamy bleu cheese we are currently pairing with.

Come try an all new way of enjoying your next dessert!