Or Portuguese 'holiday wines of the moment' since these recommendable bottles were sampled and enjoyed recently on the wonderful island of Madeira (a separate piece on two Madeira cellars is here), enhanced by a few eating-out tips where some of them were discovered. These are all convincing examples of just how happening Portugal now is on several different levels: well-made flavoursome wines, across the red white and rosé spectrum, fantastic diversity including many excellent (although sometimes difficult to get your tongue around pronunciation-wise) indigenous grape varieties and, to crown off the clichés, often good value too!
Roussillon 'French Catalonia' wine book
"Order my book on the Roussillon region direct to save £4/€4 (UK & EU only) or the Kindle eBook on Amazon UK . Buy it in the USA f...
Showing posts with label Douro valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Douro valley. Show all posts
11 July 2018
Portugal: 'wines of the moment' (and restaurant tips in Funchal).
Labels:
Alentejo,
Bucelas,
Dão,
Douro valley,
Madeira,
Portugal,
Setúbal,
Verdelho,
Vinho Verde
19 June 2016
Portugal: 'wines of the moment'
Douro Valley
Quinta de Fafide Reserva 2013 (Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, 14% abv) - Fairly serious and concentrated, towards 'modern style' red with ripe berries and spice, firm but nicely textured tannins with a touch of oak. Marks & Spencer £10...
Labels:
Douro valley,
Lisboa,
Madeira,
Port,
Portugal
20 July 2015
Douro Valley: Quinta de la Rosa, Pinhão
Quinta de la Rosa (above) is well-known for its Vintage Ports - I bought a half-bottle of their 2009 for €15 when I went there at the end of June by the way (update: click here to see my review of this delicious fortified red) - and sublime old Tawnies. They also make red, white and rosé Douro wines, like everybody else in this region nowadays; and I was quite impressed by this tasty dry white quaffed that evening, nicely chilled of course:
Labels:
Douro valley,
Port,
Portugal
Port: Pinhão, Douro Valley
Labels:
Douro valley,
Port,
Portugal
19 July 2015
Port & Douro Valley: Quevedo
I talked to smiley Oscar Quevedo (right) and tasted some of the Quevedo family's Ports in their wine tasting cellar cum shop in Vila Nova de Gaia in late June, which is quietly tucked away behind Ramos Pinto and the other side of the pretty Santa Marinha church from Sandeman's. They have six vineyards totalling about 100 hectares:
Labels:
Douro valley,
Port,
Portugal
Portugal: Port and railway theme
Top: railway bridge in Pinhão, Douro Valley. One down: barrels in Pinhão station for when the loo's closed. Next down: the station as photo'ed by everybody ever. Bottom: Porto São Bento station.
Labels:
Douro valley,
Port,
Portugal
23 August 2014
Portugal: Bairrada, Dão, Douro - new winery profiles and updates on Aliança, Portal and Romeu
Fully updated profiles on Quinta do Portal and Aliança Vinhos de Portugal with their latest ranges reviewed (including a Portal Vintage Port retrospective featuring vintages from 1995 to 2000...), can be found in my new special Portugal report (click there for more info and to buy for just £2.50 or free if you subscribe for £10 a year). Includes RMJ's complete run-down on these wineries and several new wines. There's also a summary on my Portugal archive page HERE (scroll down).
From quintadoromeu.com |
Quinta do Romeu – Douro Valley
A taster:
"The Menéres family estate was established in 1874, and the company is now run by João Pedro Menéres, José Clemente Menéres and Manuel Menéres Sampaio... "... We do not use any chemicals in our farming,” their site goes on in that glib manner. Ahh! That's the one thing that annoys me most about organic producers..." The complete rant, profile, reviews of the tasty wines below and where to get them can be found in my new special Portugal report (click there for more info and to buy or subscribe).
2013 Rosé (Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional – tank sample at the time) – yeast-lees notes, nice gummy zippy mouth-feel with fresh and gentle red fruit finish. Expensive though (in the UK anyway): £10.99. €6.25 cellar door.
2011 Moinho do Gato red (Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz) – attractive soft fruity style with peppery touches, has a bit of grip vs juicy fruit on the finish. £8.99, $15. €4.50 cellar door.
2010 Quinta do Romeu red (Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Sousão) – aromatic floral red/blue berry fruits, nice soft fruity palate with light tannins and fresh acidity too; very attractive red drinking now. £10.85, $19. €6.25 cellar door.
2010 Reserva red (“field blend picked and fermented together with some oak ageing,” mostly Touriga Nacional with Touriga Franca and Sousão) – touch of coco oak and more structured vs still plenty of that nice juicy fruit, firmer finish yet well rounded too. £14.99, $27. €10.50 cellar door.
Labels:
Bairrada,
Dão,
Douro valley,
Portugal
14 July 2012
Port: Niepoort 'masterclass'
"Dirk
Niepoort (pic. second from right) hosted what turned out to be a dream tasting back in late
May in London, where we were treated to three flights of
his Garrafeira, Colheita and Vintage Ports spanning almost a
century; from a couple of youthful 2009s back to an incredible 1912.
Needless to say the latter has fared better than that other slightly
better-known 100 year-old vessel, as it carries on sailing
majestically across oceans of time..."
Labels:
Colheita,
Douro valley,
Garrafeira,
Niepoort,
Port,
Vintage Port
15 March 2008
Portugal: Quinta do Portal, Douro valley
Labels:
Douro valley,
Port,
Portugal
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