Opened another bottle of Vinho Verde a couple nights ago to go with our fish tacos. In the spirit of this post, I’m just going to serve up a Free Association and leave it at that.
Santola Vinho Verde
Free association:
Image credit: Stéfan via Flickr
Tag Archives: Portugal
Vale do Bomfim 2006 Douro
As sales of Port have been trending downward, many Port houses are using a portion of their grapes to produce red table wines. I like Port, but I drink it maybe a couple times a year and almost always at a restaurant by the glass. So I love this trend. I love that they use indigenous grapes that are rarely found elsewhere. I love that they aren’t 15% alcohol monsters. And I love the price point – most are under $15.
Let’s see if this one is a winner.
Producer: Symington Family Estates (Dow’s)
Grapes: 40% Touriga Franca, 25% Tinta Roriz (the Portuguese name for Tempranillo), 20% Tinta Barroca, and 15% Touriga Nacional.
Appellation: Douro Valley DOC (Portugal)
Vineyards: Quinta do Bomfim (profile) & Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira (profile). Schist soils and hillside vineyards.
Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation, then 9 months in a mix of French and American oak.
Alcohol: 13%
Price: $10-12
My tasting notes: Inky dark color – near opaque. Nose of dark fruit, oak and dried flowers. (Both Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional are noted for producing wines with floral qualities). A bit green and stemmy, but not in an unpleasant way. Rich blackberry and cherry flavors with leather, mineral and chocolate notes and chewy, spicy tannins. Maybe a bit on the rustic side. A lengthy finish.
Overall assessment: This is an enjoyable red for those who don’t require exuberant fruit. While there is a richness to this wine, and it’s certainly not austere, it’s not what I think most people would consider fruit-forward (note the lower alcohol, too). I liked it and would like to try it again with more time in bottle. B-
Free association: I normally don’t use photos of the vineyards in my “free association” spot. I like to be less literal. But the Douro is such freaking beautiful vineyard land, that’s what my mind goes to when I think of these wines. Feast your eyes…
(Photos from the Dow’s website.)
More info:
Other bloggers reviews of this wine (all liked it): The Wine Curmudgeon, The Grape Crusader, The Wine Skinny, Red White and Food, The O’Neill Review. Also a few reviews at Cork’d and CellarTracker.
A discussion of the 2006 vintage in the Douro (and at Bomfim in particular) by Paul and Charles Symington at JancisRobinson.com
The producer’s tech sheet.
“Portugal: The California of Europe” – Interesting marketing from PortugalWines, a promotional organization for Portuguese wines in the US. Isn’t it usually the US producers comparing latitudes with famous European wine regions?
Quinta do Valdoeiro 2005 Bairrada
Portuguese red table wines are a fast-growing category. I’m drawn to them because of all the indigenous grape varieties that you don’t find elsewhere, like this bottle which is a blend of Baga (the most widely planted red grape in Bairrada) and Touriga Nacional. Both are small-berried varieties that produce high tannin levels.
Note: the specifications below are from the bottle labels, but it doesn’t all match up with what’s on the spec sheet from the producer’s website. Most notably, the spec sheet says there is Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.
Producer: Vinhos Messias — Quinta do Valdoeiro
Grapes: 50% Baga, 50% Touriga Nacional
Appellation: Bairrada (Portugal)
Vineyards: Clay soils
Aging: 6 months in French oak
Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: I paid $11.40 at Spec’s in Austin
My Tasting Notes: Good dark color. On the nose, I get lots of cherry and dark fruit notes with a good dose of sweet oak. A couple of times, I catch a Windex-like aroma, but it’s not persistent. It’s pretty juicy in the mouth with the cherry/berry elements carrying through and a bit of a green/herbal aspect sneaking in. Nice tannic grip at the end (those small, thick-skinned grape varieties) and a nicely lingering finish. With the dark fruit and the oak and the tannin, this wine acts a bit like a BIG wine, but it doesn’t feel big and heavy in the mouth. And at 12.5% with good acid, this makes a fine little wine for weeknight fare (like tonight’s stuffed bell peppers).
Grade: I’ll be buying more of this. B
Free association:
