I Got Fooled

 A few days ago, I went to a fine dining restaurant in Bangkok. I chose matching wines, because I was interested to see what this restaurant would come up with. I tasted the wines blind. There were the unsurprising Champagne, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, and then a really surprising fresh red wine. I was not sure, a Gamay or a Burgundy?

The Som said it was a Shiraz. No! Impossible. Then the wine was revealed. It was a 2020 Chaminé Red by Cortes de Cima. I enjoyed the liveliness of this wine, its freshness and texture. The wine is actually a blend of a number of varieties, typical for Portugal, with Shiraz and Aragonêz being the major varieties. It includes also Touriga Nacional and Alicante Bouschet. No wonder it was hard to identify.

And the clincher: this wine is about €12-13. The wine is not available in Australia.

Pinot Noir And Other Highlights

 At a recent tasting, I tasted predominantly Pinot Noir, but also some other interesting wines.

Rippon just found out that its Gamay labelled wine is in fact Pinot Noir; a bit embarassing. And do not be afraid if you cannot tell, the winemakers apparently can't either. I tasted the three key Pinot Noirs. The 2020 'Rippon' Estate wine is very perfumed and quite light. It is an easy drink, quite elegant, with strawberry and red cherry flavours (91 points) . 'Emma's Block' sits at the bottom of the vineyard, just above the lake, facing east. This wine has a similar profile, but a bit more intensity (93 points). 'Tinker's Field' sits right next to it, with the oldest vines from 1986, and north facing. This wine is a bit darker, with a piercing drive and a long finish. Elegance is the key here as well (94 points). The Rippon wines are expensive, and while they are well made, they lack power (for me). I would look elsewhere.

From Tasmania I tasted the 2023 Dr Edge Tasmania Pinot Noir. This is a bright and fruity wine with red cherry and some undergrowth flavours. It fills the mouth nicely, but is a bit forward (92 points).  The 2018 Moorilla 'Muse' is a different proposition. This is a much more complex wine, dominated by red cherry fruit and vanilla from the oak. This is an elegant wine with good length, but too much oak, which is a concern after six years (92 points). Ossa made quite a splash with its new Pinot Noirs from fairly young vines. The 2022 Pinot Noir has red and black cherry flavours, intense on the front palate. The wine is quite fruity, but is helped with elegant tannins and a minor oak influence (93 points).

The wine of the tasting, however, was the 2022 Bondar Clarendon Shiraz. The wine comes from one of Australia's best Shiraz vineyards, the Hickinbotham vineyard in Clarendon, McLaren Vale. The wine is surprisingly blue fruited, fresh, but with good intensity, silky tannins, and a long, satisfying finish (95 points). 

The real surprise (as I expected) were the Dão wines from António Madeira. These wines taste like nothing we have in Australia, and they have personality. The 2020 DãoVinhas Velhas Branco is an interesting white wine, quite full-flavoured (there is some skin contact), tasting of tropical fruit and kumquat (I have never seen this as a descriptor; it is meant to describe complex citrus). The light touch oak is well integrated, and the finish is firm (92 points). The 2019 Dão Vinhas Velhas Tinto is quite a light red, tasting of raspberry and pomegranate; some dark fruits as well. It also has pleasant earthy flavour, spice, and a soft mouthfeel (92 points). The 2019 Dão Vinha da Serra is a step up. It is António Madeira's top vineyard at 600m of altitude based on granite. The raspberry and cranberry flavours are delicate, fresh and elegant, yet quite intense and powerful. Dry tannins lead to a long finish (95 points).

 

Portuguese White Wine

 Portuguese white wine is not something you come across every day. Recently I had the opportunity to taste five high quality Portuguese white wines. They showed interesting personalities, quite different from anything you would taste from France, Italy, Germany, the US, or Australia. All these wines are blends of a number of indigenous varieties. The winemakers claim this is not important. It is about the site.

The first wine was a 2019 Antonio Madeira A Liberdade from Dão. This is a blend of 23 varieties, wines come from two vineyards 25 and 80 years old. This wine has a darker, almost golden colour. In the mouth, the wine is quite thick with yellow peach on the front palate, but merging into lemon curd and a saline finish. The structure is more rounded than linear and the acidity not high (92 points).

The second wine was the 2019 Luis Seabra Xista Ilimitado from Douro. Louis Seabra studied under Dirk Niepoort, the most influential white wine maker in Portugal. This wine had a lighter colour, probably reflecting higher altitude vineyards. and more of a citrus flavour, and also stone fruit. There is Asian Five Spice and good energy in this wine (92 points).

The third wine was different again. The 2018 Vinho Imperfeitos D&V Code from Dão and Vinho Verde is made at tiny volumes and is a bit of a cult wine. The wine has good drive on the back of citrus flavours. This is quite a gentle wine. There are almond flavours on the palate. The acidity is medium. This wine is perhaps the most sophisticated of the line-up, but the price is hard to justify (93 points).

My favorite was the 2019 Antonio Madeira Branco. This wine has incredible personality. The wine is very peppery. The wine has more of a herbal character, with celery, fennel, and ginger prominent. This is quite a unique wine, very spicy. It would work well with Asian food (93 points). 

The final wine was the 2020 Luis Seabra Xisto Cru Branco. It is a field blend, as the others, with Rabigato the main variety. The vines are at least 70 years old, grown on schisty soil. The dominant flavour in this wine is pineapple. The wine has spent time on lees. It has some lactic or creamy feel, probably from malolactic fermentation. There is some minerality on the palate. The wine is well balanced with a bit more acidity than in the other wines (92 points).

If you like a more full-bodied white wine, you go for #1. If you like a citrus wine more closer to what you know, wine #2 is for you. Wine #3 is only for people where money is no object. Wine #4 is the most unusual, very spicy. And wine #5 is the most worked and complex wine. 

Casal Figueira António Vital

 When I visited the Douro Valley in Portugal four years ago, I was also impressed with a number of white wines, in particular from vineyards at more than 500m elevation. Having access to these wines is close to impossible in Australia. So when I had a chance to buy some Portuguese white wine, I went for it. The 2019 Casal Figueira António is, however, from vineyards near Lisbon, 200-450m in altitude.

António Carvalho saved the Vital variety there. The limestone plots carry bush wines of 70-100+ years of age. The viticulture is biodynamic.

Tasting the wine, the first thing that you notice is the freshness and cleanness of the wine. Passionfruit and melon are detectable on the palate, but this wine is more textural. Really, the flavour is quite subdued and forward. The acidity makes this wine very refreshing. This is a summer wine quaffer.

Score: 87/0

Crasto Tinto Superior

Quinta do Crasto is Portugal's best winery of table wines. The focus on quality, as exemplified by the management of the sorting table, for example, is second to none. It's best wines are field blends of old single vineyards, containing an astonishing 50+ varieties. The wine reviewed here is different.

The 2015 Crasto Tinto Superior comes from a newly planted vineyard (14 years old) in the Douro Superior subregion. This is the warmest of the three subregions, close to the Spanish border and furthest from the ocean. The plantings are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinto Roriz (Tempranillo) as recommended to focus on by the Government, as well as Souzao, a variety with high acidity. This is sensible to include in a warm region such as Douro Superior.

The first impression on the palate is the round mouthfeel and slightly velvety character. Black fruit delivers intensity, and blue fruit elegance. The flavours are not too complex, but the different varieties add interest. The tannins of this wine are firm, showing the Touriga Nacional influence, and a little coarse. Together with the concentrated fruit, the tannins deliver a long finish.

I imagine this can be a fantastic wine with increased vine age.

Score: 93/+++ 

Conceito Bastardo Red

I am pursuing more intriguing wines and varieties from Portugal. The Bastardo (not a great name?) grape variety is known in the Jura of France as Trousseau. Apparently there is some in the Barossa Valley, named Cabernet Gros (another bad name), but I have never come across it.

The 2014 Conceito Bastardo has a pale pink colour. It comes from a high altitude vineyard in the Douro Superior and therefore a slightly cooler plot in this hot area. The grapes are picked early. The flavour profile is a bit like Pinot Noir, with red berry fruit, but more towards raspberry than strawberry or cherry. There is also some spice, and a lot of acidity. The alcohol level is 13%. This wine did not see any oak. I find this a fresh and attractive, though slightly unbalanced wine for the hot Portuguese inland summer climate.

Score: 91/+

Passagem Reserva

The 2013 Passagem Reserva from the Douro Valley  superior region in Portugal has a dark purple, inky colour. It is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinto Cao. It is a full-bodied wine. Blackberry and cassis are joined by mocca flavours on the mid-palate. The wine is not overripe, but quite dense, and the tannins are a little coarse.

Score: 89/-

Portuguese Red Wine

For the last 10 years, many Portuguese wineries have started to make serious table wines. With more than 300 varieties in current usage, a bewildering range of styles can be expected. The Douro Valley, one of the oldest, if not the oldest demarkated wine regions in the world (since 1756), and the variety Touriga Nacional lead the charge.

As an introduction, I tried three very different wines. The first was the 2013 Adega Regional de Colares Chao Rijo. This wine comes from the western most wine region in Europe, just west of Lisbon. The Atlantic brings cool winds to the vineyards. 80% of this blend are the Castelão and Tinta Roriz grapes. This wine was generally pleasant, but not very refined in its mouthfeel and quite broad (88 points).

From the Douro Valley comes the 2013 Quinta dos Murcas Assobio Tinto Douro. This is an entry level wine for this highly regarded winery. The grape varieties are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz. The wine is quite dark, but shows freshness rather than concentration (89 points).

The third wine is the 2012 Vadio Tinto. It comes from the Bairrada region, almost half way between Lisbon and Porto, a bit inland. The grape variety is Baga. The wine is a blend of older, up to 75 year old bush vines and ten year old vines. This grape variety is regarded as the perfect match for suckling pig, and I can see why. The wine is more elegant than the other two, but not very intense (90 points).

This tasting was my first exposure to Portuguese table wines. I will deepen my understanding with a visit to the Douro Valley next year, and then hopefully be able to report with much more knowledge.  

Monte da Cal Reserva, Portugal

Portugal has recently made huge progress with their table wines. The 2006 Monte da Cal Reserva from the Alentejo region is a good example of this. It consists of a blend of [to me] obscure grape varieties, Aragonze and Alforcheiro, plus the French Alicante Bouchet.

The wine is medium to full bodied, with a sweet core, backed by some minerality, and nicely balanced with sufficient acidity. The fine tannins deliver a velvety finish.

Score 92/++