|
 Herdade dos Lagos
This vast estate in the Alentejo region in southeastern Portugal (they've also made white
wine in Vinho Verde country in the northwest and elsewhere: the Tejo? Will
check that...) has 22 hectares (54 acres) of vines accompanied by no
less than 95 ha of olive groves and a staggering 250 ha of carob trees.
The latter have been farmed organically from the outset, and the vineyards are currently being
converted over with the first certified vintage next year. Owned by German ship-owner Horst Zeppenfeld and
the original family property holder, who went into partnership 25 years
ago. It's located
between the towns of Beja and Mértola in the Baixo (lower)
Alentejo and is planted to Aragonez (they spell it like that on their
website, although you can also use an S it seems; either way, it's a
clone of Tempranillo or Tinta Roriz),
Syrah (very promising by the looks of it),
Alicante Bouschet and Touriga Nacional. I tasted these wines in May 2010
at the London Wine Fair:
2006 Tinto (Syrah, Aragonês)
- lovely minty "garrigue" aromas with
sweet lavender vs dark cherry too; savoury vs dried fruit palate with a
touch of underlining tannin, attractive now actually.
87
2005 Reserva (Syrah, Aragonês) - herbal and coconut spicy notes vs quite rich black
cherry/berry; firmer more solid mouth-feel with peppery edges, fairly
powerful with lightly grainy texture then more savoury finish.
88+
2007 Reserva - lush fruit vs grippy texture and a touch of grainy
oak; tight and firm finish vs concentrated and ripe, attractive
lingering liquorice and pepper flavours. Needs 2-3 more years yet.
90+
2007 Syrah - meaty and dark fruity profile, lovely wild
Rhone/Barossa style with solid palate vs lush dark fruit; fine tight
length too with tasty rich flavours on a firm backdrop.
92+
2006 Syrah Reserva - maturing fruit vs grainy grippy mouth-feel,
more subtle concentration and richness even if less "impressive";
followed by firm taut and less up-front finish.
90+
2009 Vinho Verde - very lively gooseberry and other crisp green
fruits, nice and refreshing finish. 80-85
2009 Vinho Branco Tejo (Vidal,
Arinto, Chardonnay)
- floral "chalky" and lees-y notes on the nose; turns more exotic with
banana flavours vs very crisp and mineral bite, different too.
85-87
2009 rosé (Touriga Nacional/Cabernet
Sauvignon) - nice creamy vs crunchy red fruits with crisp clean
finish. 80-83
www.herdadedoslagos.com
 Terras d'Alter
Another exciting winery in the Alentejo region, Terras d'Alter is a
joint venture between Sociedade Agrícola das Antas, Sociedade Agrícola do
Monte Barrão (based in the Portalegre zone of the Alto or upper Alentejo) and
"Pink Living," a
company belonging to Australian winemaker Peter Bright,
who's lived in Portugal for nearly 30 years. They've opted to make a nice
range of different style varietals and "premium" (that not usually very
helpful word adored by wine marketeers) blends based on Iberian and
French grapes. I first met Peter on a trip to Portugal back in the late
90s I think, and bumped into his stand at the 2010 London Wine Fair.
2009 Arinto - aromatic and zesty
with floral honeysuckle tones; juicy and crisp mouth-feel with quite long
mineral finish. 85
2009 Alva (Alvarinho) - rich lees-y
and quite exotic to start; gooseberry and lime zesty too vs "fatter"
apricot fruit vs exciting crisp juicy finish. 87+
2009 Verdelho - greengage vs honeyed
and pineapple notes; again nice crisp steely palate with green vs
"sweeter" fruit finish. Attractive style. 85+
2009 Reserva (Viognier) - more buttery
and exotic with full-on apricot fruit; full-bodied and rounded vs crisp
bite, well made and balanced. 87
2009 Touriga Nacional - liquorice and
dark cherry with peppery edges; gorgeous lush fruit with spicy/juicy
profile vs a touch of grip and style. 87+
2007 Outeiro do Mouro (Syrah/Petit
Verdot) - grainy coconut nuances vs enticing rich chunky fruit;
pretty solid mouth-feel dusted with oak, although I like that coating of
tannins and fruit vs 14.5% oomph; structured taut finish vs hints of
savoury development. 88-90
2009 Tempranillo - very ripe and dark
"tar" notes with toasty oak; rather firm and charred on the palate,
although it's concentrated underneath and probably has potential (so why
all that oak...)
www.terrasdealter.com
 Herdade São
Miguel
A bit of a find at the 2010 London Wine Fair, this estate winery
owned by Alexandre Relvas is found nestling (like the local stork
population) in Redondo country in the vast and happening Alentejo
region. 35
hectares (87 acres) out of 175 are
planted with Iberian and international varieties; the rest is devoted to
cork trees, "Mirandela donkeys and Garrano horses from Gerês." They make
quite a big, and very consistent, range with a couple of real
highlights;
even if I think they should hold the oak a little for my taste! I only tried
reds, for some reason, but they do also make white and rosé.
Some of the
wines below are distributed in the USA in NY, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, NJ, Colorado and N. Carolina: more details from their website. The UK agent
for the Herdade São Miguel
range is Portuguese specialist Raymond Reynolds, while
Atlantico
and S. Miguel Descobridores Reserva wines are sold by Avery's. In Ireland,
Erne Drinks/EnoWine will be taking
the Ciconia and HSM range. And in Singapore, HSM is
available from Viva Vino.
2008 Atlântico red (Alicante Bouschet, Trincadeira,
Aragonês) - "sweet" vs smoky berry fruit; nice juicy spicy palate
with a bit of grip and ripe berries to finish. £5.99 Avery's (UK).
85
2009 Ciconia (Aragonês, Syrah, Touriga Nacional)
- more peppery on the nose, again has attractive lively ripe berry fruit
(red and black); more oomph and grip too vs liquorice and pepper length. £6.99
Oddbins (UK), $6.99 (US: see distributors above).
87
2009 Herdade São Miguel
Colheita Seleccionada
(Alicante Bouschet, Aragonês, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Trincadeira) - spicy black cherry style showing juicy "sweet" dark
fruit with spicy minty edges; structured mouth-feel with grip and power,
needs 6-12 months to come together. US $12.99. 87+
2008 Touriga Nacional - touches of cedar and
coconut oak vs very firm palate vs liquorice and dark cherry; spicy punchy
and solid closing up on the finish, powerful stuff but promising. US $20.
88-90
2008 SM dos Descobridores Reserva (Alicante
Bouschet, Touriga Franca) - grippy
texture and grainy oak, a bit extracted and difficult to taste although
concentrated with lurking fruit; pretty massive mouth-feel then tight
finish. Leave it for a couple of years.
2007 Herdade São Miguel
Reserva (Alicante Bouschet, Aragonês, Cabernet
Sauvignon) - maturing smoky tobacco notes with underlying spicy
oak; big firm and punchy palate, coating of dry tannins vs lush dark
fruit; wow, even if pretty grippy still. US $30. 90+
2006 Private Collection (the top five barrels each vintage) -
indeed, it's quite oaky but also has lovely maturing savoury and leather
tones; again big tannins and structure with grainy texture, solid
concentrated finish; just a bit too much oak for my liking but should
age well over the next few years. 89-91
www.herdadesaomiguel.com
 Porto
Quevedo
Quevedo was established in 1991, or rather a new winery and wine/port brand:
the family has been growing grapes for much much longer than that. Now in the
hands of winemaking/blogging brother and sister team Oscar and
Cláudia Quevedo, there are 100 hectares of family
vineyards lying in different spots in the Cima Corgo (the middle bit of the
Douro Valley) and Douro
Superior (the most inland and highest) regions. There are four Quintas or
estates: Vale d’Agodinho, Quinta da Senhora do Rosário, Quinta da Alegria and
Quinta da Trovisca near Sao João da Pesqueira (a small town a good bit east of Pinhao),
where the cellar is also located. I first met bubbly Oscar in Madrid last year
(where he used to work as an investment banker, I think, before turning his
attention full-time to the family business) but didn't actually try his wines until May
2010 at the London Wine Fair (some of them, at least, as they make quite a
range of ports). To find them in the US, you could start with
www.flickingerwines.com; or UK on-line retailers
www.nakedwines.com and
winefantastic.co.uk.
2008 Oscar's Douro red (Touriga Nacional,
Tinta Roriz 14% alc.) - meaty peppery nose with
nice dark cassis and cherry flavours; "sweet/savoury" finish with well-textured
tannins, a bit baked although shows fair depth of fruit. UK £9.
Rosé Port (Touriga
Nacional, Touriga Franca,
Sousão) - unusual tobacco notes or something
unexpected on the nose!? Again a touch baked (could just be from sitting open
for a few hours in a warm exhibition hall) but has rich red fruit palate with
oomph and bite; not so sweet in the end and attractive enough style (I'm slowly
warming to rosé ports, some of them taste too confected).
1996 Colheita Port (Touriga Nacional,
Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz,
Tinto Cão, Tinta Barroca;
plus 12% "others" which sounds a little mysterious) - reddish brown colour; rich
complex "sweet/savoury" profile with a bit of a kick still, sweet palate vs nice
bite with dried fruit and oily nutty finish. 90
2003 Late Bottled Vintage Port (Touriga Nacional,
Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Tinta Barroca,
"others" (20%) - baked leathery dried fruit nose; pretty stonking tannins still
layered with lush smoky dried fruits, although quite mature at the same time; a
bit clunky perhaps but still attractive. £9.55 half-bottle. 85+
2007 Vintage Port - baked liquorice tones with sweet, dried
prune-y fruit vs peppery dark cherries; big chewy palate with fair oomph,
"sweet/savoury" finish vs nice cut; concentrated and meaty with dried fruit and
power to finish. Needs more time. £19.24 half-bottle. 87-90
quevedoportwine.com
Quinta Dona Matilde
Owned by Manuel Angelo Barros, of the old Barros
Port family who sold off the estate in 2006, and aided by his sons Filipe and Nuno; Dona Matilde comprises 93 hectares
(230 acres)
lying close to the Douro River near Bagaúste (east of Peso da Régua). The Quinta has 28 hectares of what
they call "top quality vineyards" - meaning they're officially highly rated under the
slightly complicated classification system - as well as olive and orange groves
and nut trees. I tried these wines with Manuel in May 2010 at the London Wine Fair:
2007 Reserva Douro red (Touriga Nacional,
Touriga Franca and Tinta
Amarela) - smoky, peppery and floral too with enticing cassis vs
liquorice notes; grippy vs maturing mouth-feel showing good depth and more
savoury finish. 87
2009 Douro white (Arinto,
Viosinho, Gouveio,
Rabigato) - flowery honeysuckle vs zesty "chalky"
aromas; lightly exotic banana fruit vs crisp and steely, juicy lees-y finish
too. 80-84
2007 Quinta Dona Matilde Vintage Port - powerful with prune and leather
on the nose and palate, extracted and fiery vs masses of liquorice and black
fruits; very firm framework but there's lots going on here, needs a few years to
open up. 92+
www.donamatilde.pt
 Adega
Vila Real
A few words and more info on the wines to follow (their website is
"coming soon" so I'll email them...). Tasted in London, May 2010, with boss Nuno Ferreira Borges:
2009 Douro white - cheesy vs banana aromas
(?!); floral juicy mouth-feel with lightly crisp and mineral finish.
80-83
2009 Douro Reserva white - subtle toasted
vanilla notes; again juicy and crisp in the mouth although rounder with tasty
mineral finish. 85
2008 Douro Gran Reserva white - very cold to
taste, although showing oilier and weightier palate plus a tad more coconut oak
spice too; has attractive rounded mouth-feel though with nice fruit and texture,
dry and crisp on the finish. 85-87
2009 Douro rosé - lively vs creamy red
fruits, crisp bite again vs "sweet" fruit; attractive foodie style.
85
2008 Douro red - enticing perfumed and
fruity cassis, liquorice and cherry; soft and juicy with ripe mouth-feel vs a
bit of bite. Tasty, attractive and good value at £5 a bottle in the UK (as are
the "basic" white and rosé above). 85
2007 Reserva red - hints of chocolate oak
layered with dark plum, liquorice and peppery undertones; has fair depth of
fruit with lightly cedar-y/toasty texture and flavours, attractive
"sweet/savoury" mix on the finish though. 87
2007 Gran Reserva red (vat sample, not
bottled) - quite lush and concentrated black fruits vs firm structure, tight and
closed up finish; not revealing much at the moment although punchy with lurking
fruit, could be promising.
www.adegavilareal.com
 Quinta
dos Vales
This 50 ha (124 acre) estate is actually a wine, fruit and animal farm with
"luxury" holiday accommodation, tennis court and art gallery no less, all
on-site (check out their website below if that rings your wine travel bell).
It's found in the deep south on the Algarve, in a little place called
Estombar between the towns of Portimão
and Lagoa. I sampled these wines in May 2010 at the London Wine Fair (Euro
prices taken from their online shop):
2009 Marquês dos Vales white - floral orange
shades with peaches and a touch of vanilla; juicy palate with vanilla oak
touches and lightly bitter twist to finish. 83+
2009 Marquês dos Vales rosé (Castelão)
- juicy and crisp with gentle red fruits, pretty dry and refreshing on the
finish. €5.31 83+
2007 Grace Vineyard red (Castelão,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Aragones)
- a lot of smoky rubbery oak on the nose, perhaps a touch over-extracted yet
there's some nice lush fruit lurking underneath. €12.60
2008 Grace Vineyard Touriga Nacional - rich
plum nose with ripe cassis and chocolate oak on top; very firm and punchy with
extracted tannins and rubbery oak texture, concentrated though with dark fruit
undertones. Pity about the overdone oak... €12.60 87+?
www.quintadosvales.eu
 Regis
Causa
Run by Paulo Pinto Rosas, this "export/import company" sources from vineyards in the Douro Valley and
has offices in Vila Nova de
Gaia (Oporto). More info to follow: their website
just shows a couple of pictures and their address...
2009 Douro white - aromatic floral
Muscat-y even with mineral edges; nice crisp bite and juicy lees notes
vs fruity finish. 85+
2007 Douro red (Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional,
Tinta Roriz) - attractive ripe vs herby
red/black fruit nose with minty edges; meatier palate, tasty fruit vs
solid finish. 87+
2007 Grande Reserve (Touriga Nacional,
Touriga Franca) - toasty oak and grippy tannins to
the fore, nice sweet fruit though vs chunky oaky finish. Not sure, needs
to open up maybe...
www.regiscausa.com
More Douro wines and Ports here
("a masterclass"...)
 Quinta do Portal
The Douro Valley to be more
precise, the intense sheer twisty vine-scape that is Port country. Portal is
located in the Pinhão valley about
two hours drive east from the city of Porto itself. You'll find the winery off the road
running from Vila Real to Pinhão,
just the other side of the lost village of Sabrosa. The Pinhão area is generally
rated as prime terrain for Port grapes as well as red 'table' wines, which
Portal is increasingly focusing on (while continuing to make very good ports it
has to be said). The entire estate, owned by the Mansilha
Branco
family and currently run by
Pedro Branco, is actually made up of four distinct 'quintas':
Abelheira,
Confradeiro,
Muros and
Portal itself,
totalling 95 hectares (230-odd acres) of vineyards.
I bumped into Pedro at Alimentaria
in Barcelona in March 2008, and tasted the wines below on his stand, a little
Portuguese enclave among otherwise Spanish producers. It was good to catch up, as
I visited Portal back in 2002 (a link to the related feature and articles will
reappear here once I've put them back on the site): Pedro confirmed his
winemaker Paulo Coutinho was still very much there and having fun creating their
pretty large range, with consultant
Pascal Chatonnet
occasionally adding his input. As an interesting 'by the way' (well, I think so
anyway), they own sizeable and quite old Muscat vineyards to the south of the village of Favaios
(I stood in it six years ago), which are the source for a couple of rather
tasty, sweet fortified Moscatel
styles. And they've since completed Casa das Pipas on site - a "winery guesthouse"
as it says on their website (see below) - with ten cosy rooms, swimming pool and
somewhat breathtaking view (a bit of a cliché but those who've been to this
region will agree).
So, it must be time to arrange that trip to the Douro...
2006 Portal Tinto - appealing mix of juicy ripe liquorice and spice
flavours, leading on to a touch of dry grip; attractive easy-going style.
85+
2003 Portal Reserva (40% Touriga Nacional 30% Tinta Roriz 30% Tinta
Francesa 14% alc.) - attractive savoury development on the nose, smoky with
lovely ripe spicy fruit; quite firm and powerful still v maturing savoury fruit.
88+
2003 Portal Grande Reserva (50% Touriga Nacional 25% Tinta Roriz 25% Tinta
Francesa 14.5% alc.) - more liquoricey with darker fruit v minty floral notes
too, spicy and concentrated with very firm powerful framework countered by
delicious lush juicy tobacco-tinged fruit. 90-92
2003 Touriga Nacional (15.5%) - turning savoury and leathery with spicy
'sweet' undertones, pretty powerful to say the least with very firm coating;
beginning to oxidise a bit and a little too alcoholic despite that nice fruit, a
victim of hot 2003 I'd guess? 87-89
L2006 Duradero (50% Toro in Spain, 50% Douro, 100% Tempranillo in
disguise: Tinto de Toro and Tinta Roriz, 15% alc.) - crafty way of labelling it
with the vintage by saying it's the lot mark (you're not allowed to put a
vintage on a cross-country blend, which has to be labelled as table wine...),
this is a slightly wacky joint-venture project. Perfumed black cherry,
liquorice, blueberry and cassis notes with underlying chocolate oak; solid
full-on palate yet well-balanced in its own way, quite concentrated with dry yet
lush texture and perfumed spicy fruit on the finish. Promising.
89+
2000 Late Bottled Vintage Port - developing complex meaty tones with
liquorice, cooked cherries, leather and pepper; rich sweet palate cut by alcohol
and nice solid dry tannins, well-balanced despite its power with lovely sweet v
savoury coating and grip. Coming back to it: not too heavy really with velvety
seductive mouth-feel v "gently does it" undertones. After one week open: more
savoury and softer with that sweet v dry coating still prevalent, the alcohol's
become more integrated v lush depth of fruit. 2-3 weeks later: even better
amazingly! 92-94
www.quintadoportal.com.
 Caves Aliança
Part-owned and headed up by the indefatigable Mario Neves, Aliança is a big
winery and distribution operation (they also represent some leading brands in
Portugal) based in Sangalhos, between the lively coastal town of Aveiro and the
rugged Bairrada hinterland. Neves has been busy buying and
developing a handful of quality wine estates in other regions of Portugal such as Alentejo, Dão
and Douro; as well as churning out their Casal Mendes volume brand and some good
sparkling wines too. Winemakers Arminda Ferreira
and Francisco Antunes are aided by hotly demanded (and paid I'd imagine) French consultant
Pascal Chatonnet. Tasted at Boutinot's trade tasting in the Tower of London (mind your
head) Feb 2007, posted Aug 07:
2004 Quinta da Garrida, Dão - smoky fruit on a firm backdrop, still a
little raw but nice mouthful of wine. 85+
2003 Quinta da Garrida Reserva Touriga Nacional, Dão
- peppery tones with nice liquorice and black fruit, tight firm concentrated
finish. UK retail approx £12 89
2004 Quinta dos Quatro Ventos, Douro - chunky meaty wine, black fruit
with leather tones, lightly bitter twist v rounded with 'sweet' fruit. £12
89-91
2003 Quinta das Baceladas, Beiras - savoury cassis with herbal red pepper
notes, maturing fruit v firm fresh and powerful; ripe & rounded though on the
finish. £10 90
www.alianca.pt
|
|
Quick A to Z
Aliança
Dona Matilde
dos Lagos
Q Portal
Quevedo
Regis
Causa
São Miguel
Terras d'Alter
Q dos Vales
Vila Real
Winery snaps 1:
Burgundy
Winery snaps 2:
SW France
Winery
snaps 3:
South Africa
Lebanon & Austria!
Winery snaps 4:
Spain
... and:
Castilla y León
"New
Wave" awards
Cava
guide
Rioja free zone!
Winery snaps 5:
S & N America
Winery
snaps 6:
Oz & New Zealand
Winery snaps 7:
Rhône & Provence
Winery snaps 8:
Sicily
Winery snapshots: Roussillon
4 monster pages
Winery
snapshots:
Languedoc
6 pages
Wines of the
mo |
