Portugal Wine Tasting: Alentejo Region

This is my final entry on the Portugal wine tasting I did with the Midtown Winers last week. This final region is the Alentejo is in south-central Portugal. Its name's origin, "além do Tejo", literally translates to "beyond the Tagus". The region is separated from the rest of Portugal by the Tagus river, and extends to the south where it borders the Algarve. The land varies considerably, from the open rolling plains of the south of the Alentejo to the granite hills that border Spain in the north-east.

The Alentejo is a large region and its flat plains cover almost a third of the country. Much of this area is used to grow cereal grain. It is hot like the Douro region and irrigation is used. In contrast to the northern regions, most of the production is done by large, professional companies.

The Alentejo region has done very well in the past ten years, producing old and new style wines. The traditional Alentejo style is described as “leathery, herby, with a sweet-spice complexity.” The new style is fruit-forward, almost new-world style. This second style has been a huge commercial success. This was the Alentejo wine I enjoyed the most.

The maker is Esporao, who has been producing wine in Portugal since 1975. This particular wine is a blend of:

• 40% Aragonês (aka Tempranillo )


• 30% Cabernet Sauvignon


• 30% Trincadeira (aka Castelão which makes grape # 51 on my Century list.)

This wine was not at all a fruit-bomb, but it was fruit-forward. The main fruit seemed to be cherry which mixed well with the tannins. The alcohol was a little strong (14.5%) but it wasn’t excessive as to take away from the wine. This wine was a nice combination of the old style and new style. For more information about the maker, see Catavino’s blog entry.

The theme for the April Midtown winers group is "Obscure Varietals." We are defining obscure as the less famous red grapes of the Bordeaux: Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. These wines don't have to come from Bordeaux, they just have to be made predominately from the individual grape. Please leave a comment if you have a suggestion of a good example of any of these grapes.

Portugal Wine Tasting: Douro Region

Last week I attended a Portugal Wine tasting hosted by the Midtown Winers. The best represented region at the tasting was the Douro region in Northeastern Portugal. We had two ports (which I’ll post about later) and five bottles of red wine. Most of these wines were a blend of the same grapes used to make port. Some of them were even single varietals of a port grape.

I wrote about this region earlier when I reviewed a Portuguese wine. According Karen McNeil's "Wine Bible" many of the vineyards in this region were carved out of the steep cliffs of the region, built ellaborate terraces, and transported dirt up the steep cliffs to augment the shist soil. A grapevine growing in this hot climate and poor soil must struggle to grow. This seems to be the formula for producing great grapes the world over.

The main grapes of the Douro for making red wine are the same ones that go into Port: Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional. The common flavor I got in the Douro wines at our tasting was plum. These wines were a nice balance of fruit and tannins. All seemed like they would go well with food.

The favorite of the night was the 2005 Quinta dos Quatro Ventos. This dark purple wine was made from Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesca. On the nose I detected plum and alcohol. There was light fruit, almost like a Rhone wine. The strong but balanced tannins left a nice finish. This wine was a nice value at $16.99.

Other reds we enjoyed were:
2004 Praxo de Roriz (it might have been flawed, though)
2004 Redoma Tinto
2003 Callabriga
2002 Evel Vihno Tinto

Portugal Wine Tasting

I belong to a monthly wine tasting group in Sacramento, California called "The Midtown Winers." I wasn't able to attend the February Cabernet Sauvignon tasting unfortunately, but I participated in the Portugal wine tasting this week. I feel like I've got to do my homework after taking the test after attending the tasting. I don't know much about Portugal wine regions and I've only had a few Portuguese wines (two from the Douro region that I posted on: 2005 Valtorto Douro and Charamba.) I’m going to be visiting the wine blog
Catavino in the next few weeks to take advantage of the great work they’ve done.

We had a fair sampling of Portuguese wine regions at the tasting with six out of the nine regions. I was glad that there were three whites from the Minho or Vinhos Verdes region. This region is at the Northeastern top edge of the country and borders Spain. The white grapes of this region are Alvarinho, Loureiro, Pederna and Trajadura. They go into making the light, slightly fizzy wine Vinho Verde. We had three different Vinho Verdes (“green wine”) one of which I brought. The wine is called green not because of its color but because it’s a young wine meant to be drunk soon after its made (sort of the white counter part to Beaujolais Neuveau?) Most Vinho Verdes are meant to be basic wines, but some are really good and we had one at the tasting.

I brought one (not the best of the night) made by Casal Garcia. It was bottled in 2007, contained only 10.5% alcohol and cost $6.99 at BevMo. I’ve had this wine before and enjoyed it. It’s light and the carbon dioxide they inject into the bottle before corking adds an enjoyable, refreshing fizz. I like it as a sipper or with fried chicken. The high acidity and fizz combine well with the fat in fried chicken.

The Vinho Verde I enjoyed the most was made by
Broadbent. It was also bottled in 2007 and similar to the Casal Garcia. But it had a better flavor and acidity. The flavors in the Casal Garcia were muted, but in the Broadbent I got a sense of apple and a light, pleasant veggie flavor. There were no tannins to speak of in either wine, but there was a slightly tart finish to the Broadbent. I’m definitely going to look for a bottle for myself. Vinho Verde is a great summer time wine to have as an alternative to Sauvignon blanc. It may become my favorite picnic wine to enjoy with fried chicken!

Tasting Notes:

2007 Broadbent Vinho Verde

Color:  Light yellow

Aroma:  Yeast, Sauvignon blanc like smell

Taste:  Apple, light veggie, very light mouth feel with spritz and acidity

Finish:  Slightly tart

Anywhere But Here!

Do you recognize these grapes? These beauties are a clump of Cabernet sauvignon grapes. Aside from Zinfandel, a big, full-bodied Cab is my favorite red. Unless its a Syrah fruit-bomb, but that's not the purpose of this post.

The "Midtown Winers" is going to have a Cabernet sauvignon wine tasting in February. Only it can't be a Cab from the US. I don't think I've tried a Cab from outside the US so I hope you can recommend some good ones to try. I've read that some good candiates would be:

• Bordeaux, the home of Cabernet Sauvignon. It would be cool to try a great wines of the Medoc or Graves. These wines are primarily Cabernet although most are blends with Merlot or Cabernet Franc. Blends are permitted, but Cabernet is supposed to be the significant part of the wine (75% or more) for this tasting
• The Priorat region of Spain is supposed to have some good examples. I didn't even know Spain grew Cab. Has anyone had a good one?
• Of course there are the supertuscans of Tuscany, Italy would be great to try.
• Other lesser know (to me) areas are
  • Australia (Coonawarra)
  • eastern Europe
  • South America
  • South Africa

If you've had a great Cabernet Saubignon from outside the US, please mention it in the comments section. Include a link if you can find it. Thanks in advance!