This Port-ing Life

It’s eating season. Let’s face it: The holidays are all about food, the traditions of table that bind us as people of faith, families, and a nation. Which also means we need to wash all that food down, especially something as filling as dessert, with a liquid. And that’s where port becomes necessary, especially in winter. Luckily, we have a great one right here in California Meyer Family Port (meyerfamilycellars.com). It’s quite a family-father Justin, now passed away, was one of the founders of cab powerhouse Silver Oak, his wife Bonny is a marketer supreme, and now son Matt, grad of UC Davis’s enology and viticulture program, is the man in charge. The port is enough to be dessert in a glass, rich in flavor and mouth feel, no surprise as it’s a solera-style blend, primarily old-vine California zinfandel. So it has those classic baked berry notes of a good zin, but also just enough sugar to make it sweet but not cloying, and leave a wonderful, surprisingly long finish. Good as a meal’s finish all by itself, it also pairs well with chocolate or blue cheese. The 500-milliliter bottle fits perfectly into a Christmas stocking, too.