Portuguese Wine

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Esporao Reserva White 2006

October 16, 2011 By Shea 2 Comments

The spotlight on Portuguese dry wine draws to a close with this white blend from Esporao. Esporao’s red and white reserva wines are good examples of how overly modern fruit driven methods can reduce interest in a wine. Over-oaking and attempts to mimick the new world style do not serve Portuguese wine well even as the indigenous grapes’ character manages to shine through the heavy-handed treatment in the cellar.

A blend of Antão Vaz, Arinto, and Roupeiro, this wine’s rich and buttery elements overwhelmed my palate somewhat, even as the wine offered interesting steely minerality, white flowers and kiwi fruit. This is a wine with good acid, but the oak is a bit intense for my liking. This works better if married with food to mellow it out, but the over the top richness kind of kills the wine even though there is something interesting going on with the fruit (making this far better than over-oaked chard). Overall the Esporao white reserva was not very drinkable for my palate.

A Portuguese Sum-Up

A sad note on which to end this spotlight, but also a confirmation of my discovery that Portugal’s dry wine scene is still evolving and finding its legs. There are truly great wines to be found here, but far too many are made in an international style, are slightly overdone or simply lack interest. This will change with time, particularly given some of the pioneering wines I have profiled in this spotlight. For now, Portugal is a country well worth exploring, but one should do so with the proper research and with a mind for experimentation. You will not always find what you like, but when you do the wine will be a unique expression of interesting grapes and a special terroir that is only beginning to emerge on the world scene.

Good+
$36 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $30-$40, Antão Vaz, Arinto, Good, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Roupeiro

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Esporao Reserva Red 2005

October 14, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

With this wine we move into the Alentejo region in southeastern Portugal. Warm and dry, the Alentejo is home to large expanses of loam soils along with smaller parcels of granite and schist, which of course produce more sophisticated wines. The climate is consistently hot, making the average harvest fall, amazingly, sometime in August.

Modern Methods

Esporao, situated in the Reguengos DOC, was started by a football magnate who hired a consulting winemaker from Australia. This is a wine made with modern methods and attention to detail, with hand picking but also temperature controlled ferments, robotic plunging, and inoculation. These methods manifest in the wine as it does lack some character even while being tasty.

Big, With a Hint of Terroir

The wine is big and rich, like the region, with spicy and intense grape skin aromas and licorice. A bold wine, but with good length and despite the neutrality of the wine there is grape and terroir character here. It’s particular and unique without being extraordinary. But it is unmistakably Portuguese. These wines have a uniqueness to them that proves their grapes and terroir (the indigenous grapes Aragonês, Trincadeira, and Alicante Bouschet show through, but given the reasonable percentage of Cab Sauv, the terroir clearly has enough potency to prevent that dominant grape from overwhelming place) are worth noticing. But, at the same time these are not wines for everyone, even when they are well made.

I like this wine and many who enjoy bigger red wines with proper structure and acid will too. I can happily recommend it.

Very Good
$36 at everything wine

Filed Under: $30-$40, Alicante Bouschet, Aragones, Cabernet Sauvignon, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Trincadeira, Very Good

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Quinta do Roriz Prazo de Roriz 2006

October 5, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

After a long hiatus, the Portuguese spotlight continues. I rarely review entry level wines, which is a shame given that simple wines often bring far greater pleasure and drinkability than their made-up counterparts, even when the underlying fruit isn’t quite as good. Palates can become fatigued with intense flavours or intensely intellectual wines. Drinkability is well underrated. The Prado de Roriz fills this niche of pleasure extremely well.

Such wines may not have the level of sophistication as the more expensive wines, but the best have a great simple charm that goes well with food and reflects regional style. With the Prazo de Roriz you will get fruity flavours, luscious texture and yet enough acid to keep the wine fresh and balanced. It also speaks of place, without being overly rustic or overly modern. This is Quinta de Roriz’ entry level wine from the Douro made with fruit sourced from the estate’s young vines between 5-10 years old, which give the wine its youthful exhuberance.

However, make no mistake that this is a ‘natural’ wine given its temperature controlled fermentations and innoculated yeasts. Nonetheless, stainless steel fermentation and high quality fruit selection successfully keep the wine both clean and speaking of place. I think the Prazo would do very well at the Thanksgiving table. This is unfortunately pretty comparatively overpriced in B.C. – it reportedly sells for $16 in Ontario. Given our market, however, I think this is worth the money.

A blend of 38% Touriga Nacional, 26% Tinta Barroca, 20% Tinta Roriz, 14% Touriga Franca, and 2% Tinto Cao.

Very Good
$29 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $20-$30, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cao, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacionale, Very Good

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Quinta de Pancas Touriga Nacional Reserva 2008

September 25, 2011 By Shea 1 Comment

Much of the Portuguese wine we see in North American markets tend toward big, rich fruity red wines aged in considerable oak. The heaviness of oak often brings the already intense touriga nacional grape into viscous territory, which is never enjoyable to those who appreciate finesse and elegance. Of course, Protugal is far more than that, and this wine is a perfect example.

Down South

Grown in the Estremedura and not the Douro, you might expect the more southerly region to produce more alcoholic and fruitier wines than the north. This is, however, not the case as the region has a coastal climate, which moderates the temperatures, especially at night. Quinta de Pancas is one of the new breed of wineries from the Estremedura, which is actually a group of four regions which collectively produce the greatest quantity of wine in Portugal and traditionally were dominated by poor quality co-operatives. Pancas has been producing wine for centuries, but the quality has improved dramatically in the last 2 decades.

Refined Touriga Nacional

I like this wine. What upon initial opening is rich dark blue fruits, pretty heavy oaking and coffee becomes plum skins, blackberry and herbacious greenness with air. An enticing wine, which becomes even more so on the palate.

A perfect example of why most young wines need decanting, what was initially very oaky, tart, and mostly uninteresting blue fruit became one of the most interesting wines I’ve had from Portugal with a good hour in the open bottle. I’d call this a Portuguese wine for Loire and Burgundy people who can appreciate a wine with greater density. There is dirt, minerals, chalk and good acid here that make this 13.5% ABV wine quite refreshing and elegant.

There is also serious varietal character in this wine. If you are afraid of density and tannin then you shouldn’t be drinking Touriga Nacional. But it is not fair to write off this wine because of the inherent weight of the grape. In fact, I think this wine is more varietally true than many of the Touriga Nacional’s I’ve tasted in our market. And that makes it well worth seeking out.

VG+ to E (I think this will become superb with age)
~$40 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $40-$60, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Touriga Nacionale, Very Good

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Quinta do Crasto Vinha da Ponte 2003

August 30, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Probably the best represented of Portugal’s top wineries in British Columbia, Quinta do Crasto has been making wine for almost 400 years. It is now run by the Roquette family whose lineage and relationship with Quinta do Crasto reaches back to the beginning of the 20th century.

A Rare Single Vineyard Bottling

Crasto makes a wide range of table wine, from the cheap and easy drinking Flor de Crasto to single varietal bottlings of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz to its two top bottlings of single vineyard wines: the Vinha Maria Teresa and this, the Vinha da Ponte. All the wine is grown and made in the Douro valley.

It is rare to find single vineyard table wines (and, for the most part, port) from Portugal. It is perhaps the youth of the high end table wine industry that has yet to discover all the possibilities of site and terroir. The Vinha da Ponte is an excellent example of how good single vineyard wine can be from the Douro.

French Structure, Portuguese Character

With vines nearing a century of age, the Vinha da Ponte vineyard is planted in schist soils with a field blend of 22 different grape varieties, which is likely what gives this wine its unique character. As is common in the steep Douro vineyards, the grapes are picked by hand.

An aristocratic, bordeaux-like nose offers cassis, sandalwood, and slate. This is a wine with great balance but also with the unique stamp of Touriga Nacional: firm tannin and a unique richly intense brambly dark berry fruit character. Delicious, lithely integrated oak gives the wine structure and poise and vinification gives it an easy, silky texture.

Thus, a wine with the structure of a French wine, but the flavour and density of a Portuguese wine. I thought it was the best I have yet tasted in this profile and, while it will likely improve with a couple more years, it is clearly within its prime drinking window.

Excellent to Excellent+
$133 at BCLDB

P.S. This is likely to be my last post in several weeks as I head off on vacation to France to visit the vineyards of Alsace and the Rhone.

Filed Under: $60+, Excellent, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Tinta Cao, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacionale

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Quinta do Ameal Eschola Branco 2004

August 25, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

As I mentioned earlier in this spotlight, white wine of merit is somewhat of a rarity in Portugal. In particular, Vinho Verde (aka Minho), a wine region north of Oporto, is known to produce mostly quaffing whites with no real interest beyond a hot day and a low price. Quinta do Ameal, however, has taken upon itself to show how the indigenous variety Loureiro can actually make serious wine.

The Region

Vinho Verde is synonymous with high acidity, watery whites and fairly rustic reds. The region produces ⅙ of Portugal’s wines and accordingly has quite high yields. The climate is damp, with high malic acid and low natural grape sugar. The majority of white wines are actually made from Alvarinho (aka Albarino) but it can also be blended with other indigenous grapes including Loureiro.

The Grape

Loureiro is an aromatic grape usually used in blends, however it has naturally high acidity and low alcohol and thrives particularly well in the cooler parts of Minho. Often the yields are high with this grapes, but Ameal crops it at yields far lower than normal at 5 tons/hectare in order to release its savory aromas and deeper concentration of flavours and make it suitable for a 100% varietal wine.

Ameal does a 48 hour cold soak and ferments and ages in oak.

The Wine

This is intriguing wine that is well made and also quite delicious. It pours somewhat greenish but darker than normal for Vinho Verde. However, clearly this grape does not have a lot of colour. The nose proffers reasonably dense oak, but it also has intriguing aromas of bitter citrus rind, nuts and strange flowers/savory herbs.

The relatively high acid palate is both bright and savory: minerals, bitter citrus rind, and flowers again. An up front wine that combines both richness and fresh easy approachability so long as you are amenable to the unique flavour profile.

There is a bit of greenness here (underripeness is a perennial problem in Vinho Verde) but it is not offensive. Rather it adds interest and spark. Quite a fascinating wine and absolutely worth checking out. This is definitely wine geek wine, but with a broad appeal. Who’s ever had 100% Loureiro before?

12% ABV.

Very Good+
$41 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $40-$60, Loureiro, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Very Good

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Quinta do Noval Cedro do Noval 2007

August 20, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Quinta do Noval is becoming one of the more important houses in Portugal for dry red wine. Situated in the Douro, Quinta do Noval was founded in 1715 and started making dry reds in 1996 (but only marketing the wines as of 2004). Over time, the estate was driven towards the brink of bankruptcy until it was sold by its former owners, the Van Zeller family, to AXA Millesimes and is headed by Christian Seely who is given free reign by the corporate conglomerate.

It is amazing that a Quinta famed for one of Portugal’s greatest ports, “Nacional” made from a single vineyard of very old ungrafted Touriga Nacional vines, also has managed to turn out some of the country’s finest dry reds that are constantly improving.

A Touch of Internationalism

All the table wines at Noval are fermented in conical steel tanks. Seely has said that Legares are not good for table wines as the grapes are prone to oxidation. While most of the excitement in Portuguese wine comes from its bevy of undiscovered indigenous grapes, Noval has become well known for planting Syrah vines (Seely notes that their vineyards have schist soil overlooking a river, much like Hermitage), and blending syrah into their second wine, Cedro do Noval.

As such, this 2007 has 35% of Syrah blended in with 30% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca and 10% Tinta Cao. Seely insists that his intention is not to make the wines international, but rather to experiment and also to produce a more accessible wine at a younger age.

Quality Wine on the Rise

The wine pours an extremely rich dark red and opens with oak, spice, chocolate, and dark red fruit aromatics. There is a heaviness to the nose that suggests lack of balance, but after a few hours open, this, along with everything else, integrates very well.

The palate tasted of blackberries and chocolate and is very dark and rich. Nonetheless good acid keeps the wine speaking and I think this is a worthy bottle at its price point, but I wish it went in a different direction (I still prefer Ribera del Duero or Rioja reds over most of the Portuguese reds I’ve had so far). However, there is something unique and compelling about the wine and despite its bigness it maintains an old world feel. There is also a softness to the texture that pegs this immediately as old world. It is not hard to appreciate that this is quite a delicious wine and it prompts me to seek out Quinta do Noval’s top wines.

Very Good+
$35 at BCLDB

Filed Under: $30-$40, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Syrah, Tinta Cao, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacionale, Very Good

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Lemos & Van Zeller CV Curriculum Vitae 2005

August 12, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Cristiano Van Zeller is one of the most famous names for dry wine in Portugal. Now owner of Quinta do Vale Donna Maria, he has had his stamp on a few top dry wine estates in the Douro, including Quinta do Roriz.

Certainly a bit of a whiz and one with a penchant for new projects, Van Zeller also seems to have a fairly new world bent with his wine making style. So he is both a good example of the modernization of Portugal but also of the divide between big ballsy New Worldy wines and wines with more subtlety and elegance, which are also possible in Portugal.

Portugal’s Grape

Touriga Nacional is amongst the absolute best quality grapes in Portugal for making red wine. Long used in port production, it is now seeing centre stage in numerous highly regarded dry reds. TN makes delicious full bodied wines but is also very aggressive, and in the worlds of Oz Clarke is “a grape of tremendous personality but with aggressive tendencies that is usually much better when softened by blending with something else”.

The wine has an expressive bordeaux-like nose, staying true to its similarity to Cabernet Sauvignon: blackberry, plum and plumskin, spices and a bit of leafyness.

This is fully fruity on the palate, very forward and is filled with big bright acid. I find this more like a very good California wine on the palate than anything old world, though the tannins manifest dustily on the palate. You can definitely taste a little stewy fruit here, and some alcohol and so I’d say this wine has less finesse than the Chrysea. Overall, it is still a bit harsh now with fairly overt oak and tannin and could clearly do with another 4-6 years of bottle age. In some ways the wine is a little unbalanced, especially for its price tag. Right now, while I respect the quality of this wine, it is unfortunately a pass for me based on QPR.

Summary

New World style but distinctly Portuguese grapes and flavours. A good wine for those who like em big. Personally I prefer the red wines from Portugal with more elegance – a hard thing to achieve in its climate.

Very Good+
~$100 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $60+, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Touriga Nacionale, Very Good

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Chocapalha Branco Reserva 2005

July 24, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Today I move away from the famous Douro Valley to the less well known Estremadura region located near Lisbon. Part of its lack of notoriety arises from the fact that many wineries are decidedly mediocre here, even though it produces the most dry wine in Portugal. However, there have been a small number of new wave producers that are introducing high quality wines to the region. Chocapalha is one of these wineries.

A New Wave in the Estremadura

Now owned by Alice and Paulo Tavares da Silva, Chocapalha’s vineyards date back to the 16th century. Alice and Paulo’s daughter Sandra, winemaker at Quinta Vale Dona Maria. Chocapalh’a is still growing and learning the ropes, having experimented with various vines and only recently settled on the appropriate root stock on which to graft. A new winery is planned for this year.

That Portuguese red wines are still struggling for attention on the world stage does not bode well for the mostly lesser white varieties. However, the best producers are making truly exceptional white wines that are being ignored by most consumers. This is a shame as these wines carry even better price tags than the red wines.

Weight and Flavour

Chocapalha’s vines grow in calcerous clay soils. The Grapes are de-setmmed and undergo a cool pre-fermentation maceration before fermentation in the traditional Portuguese lagares. Lagars are stone troughs where the grapes are trodden and fermented.

This wine is also a fascinating combination of an international and an indigenous grape. At around 65% Chardonnay and 35% Viosinho, there is a classic chard texture and aroma to this wine, but the mid palate and finish have a distinctly deeper minerality and savory character than I’d expect. Viosinho adds structure and flavour. Generally Viosinho is one of the promising white grapes in Portugal and I think it blends very well with the Chard.

The wine pours a deep golden and opens with floral aromatics filled with honey, lemon and bright minerality. On the palate this is quite expressive, with medium+ to full body and great length and a unique mineral/savory element that keeps interest. A rounded wine that drinks well above its price point.

Very Good+
$34 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $30-$40, Chardonnay, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Very Good Tagged With: Viosinho

Spotlight on Portuguese Dry Wine: Chryseia Post Scriptum Douro 2004

July 22, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

My new profile holds a place close to my heart. When I visited Spain on vacation one year ago, I happened to be one of those travellers who was stranded by the erupting Icelandic Volcano. Instead of wallowing in frustration, my partner and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Oporto in Portugal. Thank God we did, as Portugal ended up as one the favourite stops I’ve made in Europe.

Port is, of course, Portugual’s dominant wine export, though stagnant sales have prompted the top houses to look to dry wines to increase sales. Word of increasing interest in the dry wines has reached North American shores but access to the actual wines remains spotty. Additionally, there isn’t much critical attention on the most interesting wines being made. Part of this is a marketing problem with some of Portugal’s wineries who have poor branding and make far too many wines. However, part of it has to do with critics writing off an entire country after tasting only a few wines or, simply, minimal attention given how many other wines struggle for attention these days. Of course, our proximity to the U.S. and Australia has helped make those wines amongst the top selling in the Province next to perennial France (cache really does work sometimes). But the Portuguese wine scene is, perhaps, one of the most exciting in the world right now and it is damn time that someone pay attention to these wines.

Add to that that most wines in Portugal are made with indigenous grapes and have a character unlike anywhere else, that prices are disturbingly low for the quality, and that most of the better producers are only going to improve, then you have a recipe for a truly exciting wine hot spot.

Bordeaux Meets Douro

Chryseia is one of Portugal’s star names, which means, of course, that no one here has heard of it. A joint venture between the Symmington Family (one of Oporto’s great names, with holdings including Dow’s, Graham’s, and Quinta do Vesuvio) and Bruno Prats of Cos d’Estournel, this winery was established to make a premium red blend from grapes grown in the Douro Valley. While grapes for the first vintages came from Symmington’s port holdings, the duo have since purchased vineyards in the Rio Torto Valley solely for the purpose of making Chryseia’s two dry reds: the eponymous wine and this, the second wine Post Scriptum.

I should note that holdings in Portugal can be confusing to follow as acquisitions and mergers abound. Symmington now sources most of its grapes for dry reds from the vineyards previously owned by Quinta do Roriz (owned by Van Zeller). The name and vineyards have, since 2009, switched over to the Symmingtons – though given our ridiculous laws and delays in shipping the wines in this market are quite a bit older. Thus, the Post Scriptum I am reviewing today represents only the 3rd vintage of this wine, made from totally different vineyards than if you bought it today – i.e. the vineyards now exclusively used for Chryseia. Nonetheless, it represents the style that Chryseia is going for and is an excellent representation of changes in the Portuguese dry wine industry as a whole.

Elegance and Expression

This is serious wine, and totally unexpected. The nose evokes classic Bordeaux – that’s right, this is not a big alcoholic, fruity, heavily extracted red. Rather it has near cool climate expressivity with blackcurrant, blackberry, graphite and stoney mineral. The weight of this wine is shocking. I expected something huge and dense but this is medium bodied and elegant as hell. The fruit is moderate (likely exacerbated by the 7 years bottle age), but the secondary characteristics here are impressive: stone, pencil lead and chalky tannins. The finish seems to lack a little stuffing and I think this wine is on its downward curve now, but this is very good, honest wine, that is shockingly elegant for such a hot climate. No one would peg it as Portuguese in a blind.

And keep in mind that this is only the third vintage of the second wine from this estate. I will certainly be seeking the big boy whenever I get the chance. I feel effusive beginning this spotlight with this wine. I was expecting to be surprised, given my experiences in Portugal last year, but to be this shocked with the first wine was just darn cool and is something that doesn’t happen too often. So here’s to being open minded. 40% Touriga Franca, 40% Touriga Nacional, 20% Tinta Roriz.

Very Good+
$40 at Liberty Wine Merchants

Filed Under: $30-$40, Portuguese Dry Wine, Portuguese Wine, Tempranillo, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacionale, Very Good Tagged With: Portuguese Dry Wine