First Week of 2020 - The Wines

[Mahmoud Ali]

Portuguese Nights

PortugueseWines.jpeg

Friday and Saturday night were Portuguese nights. First, a 1996 Duas Quintas Duoro (13%) that was still rather dark and firm, the nose and palate rather reticent in a dry, black fruited and mineral way. This bottle was far more backward than expected for a 23 year-old Duoro wine. The dregs from the open botlle, two days later, comfirmed that it needed more time as it had softened somewhat but retained a black cherry and garrigue intensity with a tasty bitter/astringent finish.

The next day a 1997 Quinta do Crasto, Duoro (13.5%). This was more evolved, the palate flush with sweet, earthy raspberry (as if there was soil in the glass) followed by a dry savoury finish that was completly resolved and tannin-free. This push-pull between sweet and savoury continued for the full hour or so we took to drain the decanter. This was by far a better performance than the last bottle opened.

Happy New Year .................. Mahmoud.

[paulf]

I wish we saw more Portuguese wines out here. They are pretty different to most of what is on offer locally.
I'm not sure whether the Duas Quintas ever made it out this way. I do like the Ramos Pinto tawnies and bought a 6 pack of the 20 year old tawny locally 8 or 9 years ago. I guess being owned by one of the Champagne houses probably helps with distribution, so it might have been around at times. I'm assuming 96 was a cooler vintage... Not generally declared for port and I've not seen many Single Quinta ports around either which is usually a sign that it was cooler.
The Crasto does make it out to Australia, although you have to know where to look for it. I'd assume that 1997 was a warmer year, given it was a generally declared year for Port and I would have thought it a bit ambitious to be holding on to that one for that long given it is one of the more entry level Crastos. Might have been made by an Australian too. The Maria Teresa and Vinha da Ponte are both among the best wines I have tried.

[Mahmoud Ali]

HI Paul,

I think you are correct about an Australian involved in Quinta do Crasto - a Baverstock if I remember correctly. Do keep in mind that there is a difference between a Quinta do Crasto and a Crasto wine, the former coming from estate vines while the later is not. The 2004 Vinha da Ponte was a indeed a magnificent wine.

Do think about cellaring some of the less expensive Portuguese wines that are about in the big retailers. They can provide some satisfaction with short term aging. I recall enjoying a Portuguese wine bought for under $10 in Sydney and stored under less than ideal conditions in a back flat. Especially cellarworthy are Dao wines from a decent producer- they age a treat.

[paulf]

HI Paul,

I think you are correct about an Australian involved in Quinta do Crasto - a Baverstock if I remember correctly. Do keep in mind that there is a difference between a Quinta do Crasto and a Crasto wine, the former coming from estate vines while the later is not. The 2004 Vinha da Ponte was a indeed a magnificent wine.

Do think about cellaring some of the less expensive Portuguese wines that are about in the big retailers. They can provide some satisfaction with short term aging. I recall enjoying a Portuguese wine bought for under $10 in Sydney and stored under less than ideal conditions in a back flat. Especially cellarworthy are Dao wines from a decent producer- they age a treat.

Either David Baverstock or Dominic Morris. Maybe both at that time. True about Crasto vs Quinta do Crasto - I was just being lazy. I'm pretty sure I have seen the Crasto Red, the Quinta do Crasto Red and the Reserva in Australia.
I opened a 10 year old Dao from Quinta Do Mondego in the middle of last year that was pretty enjoyable, but I think I might be out of Portuguese red now. I do have a 10 year old bottle of Alvarinho that will be interesting. The last one I opened a couple of years back was super.

[Mahmoud Ali]

The Crasto Old Vines Reservas are pretty good, probably the sweet spot in their range of wine in terms of value for money. With regard to Dao my experience tells me that 20 years is a very realistic goal.

[sjw_11]

Gee I would hope the Vinha da Ponte was indeed good... I am seeing it on offer about €200 which is pretty up there for dry red from Portugal!

[paulf]

Gee I would hope the Vinha da Ponte was indeed good... I am seeing it on offer about €200 which is pretty up there for dry red from Portugal!

I had a slight preference for the Maria Teresa which was a bit more elegant. but both were absolutely delicious

Quinta do Crasto also have one of the best views you'll ever get from their pool at the Quinta.

[/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/aCj5ZQ]Quinta do Crasto[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/9289416@N08/]pfountain74[/url], on Flickr [/img]

[Mahmoud Ali]

Gee I would hope the Vinha da Ponte was indeed good... I am seeing it on offer about €200 which is pretty up there for dry red from Portugal!

Both the single vineyard wines, Vinha da Ponte and Maria Teresa, are very good, but when I first saw them here in Edmonton they were C$150 and that was too rich for my blood. However I have had pretty good luck finding the Old Vines Reservas on sale and now have several vintages in the cellar, 1999, 2001, 2003 and, most recently, the 2014 because a retailer mistakenly (as I found out later) put them on sale for C$20. When I went to pick up my three bottles the store was packed because of a 30% off sale. When I got home and checked my bill I found that the till had taken 30% off the sale wine. Later on they put the price back up to $50. Talk about luck.