Portuguese Table Wines

CASA SANTOS LIMA

Located in Portugal's Estremadura region, Casa Santos Lima goes by a variety of names, so take your pick:

Companhia das Vinhas de San Domingos
or

Quinta da Boavista
or
Adega Galega de Merceana.

But while the estate and its labels go by a variety of names, there are two interesting "constants" to this equation:
1. Good quality.
2. Sensible pricing.

At the helm of this growing enterprise is José Luis Oliveira da Silva, whose great grandfather had owned extensive acreage in the town of Alenquer.   The old fellow sold tons of wine in bulk, mainly to Brazil.  In fact, Great Grandpa married the daughter of his Brazilian importer!  

José spent his early years in the banking business.  His mother and three aunts owned the estate and were considering selling the place.   José's mother-in-law had some financial resources and so did José, so they took control of the property and it's turning into a major success story.

The Quinta comprises some 280 hectares of land, with about 200 hectares under vine presently.  José's great grandfather had something like twice as much land, but his cousins sold some parcels and today Casa Santos Lima buys grapes from the neighbors.

 

José Luis Oliveira da Silva shows off his sustainably-farmed vineyards.

The estate provides about 60% of the fruit, with 40% coming from neighboring vineyards.  Though we saw some older parcels of vines, many of the vineyards were planted since 1990.  The actual winemaking under José's watch started in 1996.  A combination of great vineyards, competent winemaking and reasonable prices have the demand for these wines skyrocketing.

Touriga Nacional in the "Lost Valley" of the estate.  This is row L-8 and there are 116 vines in the row.  José Luis is a big fan of Touriga Nacional, saying it's one of the most popular grapes in Portugal, "especially on the back labels of the bottles."
Each row of vines is catalogued and monitored...that's how fanatical the focus on quality is here.

 

The cellars are well-maintained and they're working to expand the tank capacity.

There's a barrel cellar, but though they age some of the red wines in wood, we did not find oak to be a prominent characteristic in the wines.  

The range of wines and varieties they produce is remarkable.  But even more impressive is that each wine tasted like the grape named on the label.  You could actually taste the Chardonnay in the Chardonnay and the Arinto in the Arinto.  Santos Lima makes a blend of these two white varieties and, remarkably, in the glass one can find the elements of Arinto and the characteristics of the Chardonnay.

Each bottle is inspected before being placed, by hand, in a case box.

Presently we have three of their wines to offer.

The more special of the three reds is Quinta do Espirito Santo, a wine made of Castelão and Tinta Roriz.  The former variety is also known as "Periquita," while the latter is Spain's Tempranillo.  It's a rather full-bodied red, but not 'heavy,' despite it having an elevated level of alcohol.  This wine sees but a few months in small oak, so the wood is in the background here.  The fruit comes across as berries and dried figs to a small degree.  It's unusually complex for a ten buck red.

In the bargain basement department, there's a wine called Quinta das Amoras.
It's a blend of Castelão with Tinta Miuda, Camarate and Touriga Nacional.  Four weeks of skin contact during and after the fermentation, followed by a brief pass in small oak.  There's a berry and spice quality here and for $5.99, this is remarkably good.  

In scouting Portuguese wines, I found numerous citations for this Quinta de Bons Ventos red wine.  
In Portugal, this wine is quite popular in a 3 liter "bag in box" format.  We have it in regular 750ml bottles.

We know what a "good value" this is in Europe and yet here in California, a terribly inefficient distributor asks a remarkably "high" price for the wine.  And it gets great reviews as being a bargain when it's being sold for $10-$12.

The San Francisco Chronicle praised this wine in an article on "good values," in local wine emporiums, saying:  "...at $12.50 it was a total score...This larger-production red from central Portugal has a vivaciously juicy, high-acid palate of red fruit, meshed with scents of huckleberry, dried currant, cigar wrapper and loam. It's surprisingly broad-flavored and full, with chalky tannins bulking out the finish."
We simply appreciate its red fruit notes and hints of a cedary tone...plus, it's smooth and intended for immediate drinking...Oh...and we don't ask double-digit pricing.

Currently in stock:  ESPIRITO SANTO  $9.99
QUINTA DAS AMORAS $5.99
QUINTA DE BONS VENTOS SALE $5.99

QUINTA DA AVELEDA

Producers of Charamba and the famous Casal Garcia Vinho Verde

CASAL GARCIA VINHO VERDE

Casal Garcia is one of Portugal's most popular wines.  It's quite simple and uncomplicated, so it's not a wine which will appeal to fans of California Chardonnay.

The brand has been around since 1939 and it's found on most wine lists all over the Portuguese countryside.  

Best consumed immediately (cellaring this is a bit like aging a carton of milk), the wine is dry, relatively low in alcohol and bottled with a bit of residual CO2.  It's not overtly fizzy, but there's a subtle "buzz" on the palate.  The grape varieties in this little wine are Trajadura, Loureiro, Arinto and Azal.

We enjoyed a bottle at a fancy seafood palace and the wine was thoroughly delightful with the prawns, percebes (barnacles...if you're on the Iberian Peninsula, don't miss these delectable treats!) and shrimp.

 

A Rosé was launched recently and this is a delightfully fresh basket of strawberries that's fairly dry, low alcohol, bright and crisp.

It's not a complex wine...it's not intended to be a grand vin, but merely delicious.

Currently in stock:
Casal Garcia Vinho Verde Branco (white) $6.99
Casal Garcia Vinho Verde Rosé $6.99

The Aveleda property is remarkable...there's a small wine shop and tasting room.  They maintain a remarkable garden which makes for a delightful stroll, should you find yourself in Porto (it's about a 30 minute drive).

 

 

 

"Here's looking at you, kid!"

 

 

Portu-Geese.

 

I checked...no Vinho Verde in the fountain.

 

 

 

A sign pointing to the tasting rooms...


If the weather is nice, you can sit on the balcony and enjoy the view...and a sip of wine.

 

 

 

QUINTA DO BACALHÔA

This brand is but one label of many produced under the proprietorship of one of the most wealthy man on the planet.  His story is an extraordinary one...

José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo was born in Madeira and, as a kid, worked at the Madeira Wine Company, his first introduction to the world of wine.  He was an ambitious, hard-working fellow and ventured to South Africa in search of his fortune.  And did he ever hit the jackpot!

His South African adventure began as he was a field worker on vegetable farms.   This led to his selling produce to mining company kitchens and this led to his buying abandoned mines in hopes of extracting gold.  His hunches proved correct and remarkably lucrative and today this fellow is insanely wealthy.  

 

Visit the Quinta do Bacalhôa winery a half-hour's drive (if there's not road construction and heavy traffic) and you arrive at a gated, security guarded entrance.  This is not so much to protect the vinous "gold" made at this winery, but to look after the impressive art works displayed on the grounds and in the cellar.

 

 

 

We had heard there was a garden and impressive display of Portuguese tiles at this estate, but we had no idea of the enormity of the collection or of Mr. Berardo's active role in the art world (especially in Portugal).  Nor did we know of his enological interests in Canada and Australia.  Or the depth of his holdings in the Portuguese wine industry...

Berardo, in addition to the numerous wines made by his Bacalhôa estate, owns the Caves Alianca brand, has recently bought the Rothschild's share of Quinta do Carmo (to become the sole proprietor of that estate), owns 33% of Sogrape (the humungous firm which makes Mateus Rose and other notable wines), 50% of a Canadian wine company called Colio and he's the majority stockholder in an Australian wine company called Cumulus.  And I didn't mention he owns a significant percentage of the prestigious Madeira winery called Henriques and Henriques.  We suspect Donald Trump or Bill Gates might appear impoverished in comparison to "Joe" Berardo.

In addition to the impressive showplace-of-a-cellar and bottling facility, there's a very curious "garage" cellar where they mature the famous Moscatel called Setúbal.

This is a "cellar" where Mother Nature "controls" the temperature.  It can be quite cool in the winter and hotter-than-hell in the summer.  We were told these conditions contribute to the particular character of their various Moscatel wines.
We tasted three different bottlings of Setúbal Muscats and the wines were excellent from the entry-level bottling to the deluxe, rare "Roxo" wine.

Berardo was born on the 4th of July and he's a fan of the American president, Abraham Lincoln.


These olive trees, relatively recently transplanted here, are said to be well more than a thousand years old...maybe two-thousand.

Ana Isabel Leitão offers a taste of Moscatel, amongst others.

Quinta do Bacalhôa's famous red wine comes from mature vines of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  The wine sees extended skin contact following its fermentation as they're trying to obtain every last nuance from the grapes.  The wine then goes in oak, half the barrels being brand new.  After a year or so in wood, the wine is bottled and left to mature in the cellar...

 This is a deep, dark colored wine and it has intense red and black fruit aromas and a wonderfully woodsy bouquet.  The wine is complete on the palate, showing nice fruit and wood with modest tannins.  It can probably be held for another few years, but drinking it tonight with red meats or game is ideal, too.

Currently in stock:   Quinta do Bacalhôa $29.99 (last bottles)

QUINTA VALE D. MARIA

Though this is a rather new wine and few people have heard of the estate, most fans of Portuguese wines know the name of Cristiano Van Zeller.  That's who's behind this producer of table wine and Ports.

For one thing, it turns out he's virtually everyone's cousin in Portugal!
We spent a couple of weeks touring around the various wine regions of Portugal and it seemed like everywhere we went, someone told us they had a cousin named Van Zeller from the Douro.

Van Zeller's family owned and operated the Quinta do Noval port house before selling it in 1994 to an insurance investment group.

Ellen & Cristiano Van Zeller

 

This property has been in Cristiano's wife's family for about 200 years.  It was rented or leased by the Symington family, who had it as the home base for their Smith Woodhouse brand of Port.  Since 1996 the Quinta Vale D. Maria has been operated by Van Zeller.

 

It's a 43 hectare estate with 20 hectares of 60 to 80 year old vines.  The other 23 hectares range from 5 to 30 years of age.


The cellars are small and well-maintained.
Joana Pinhao does a lot of the cellar work.

 

Sandra Tavares da Silva is the head of the enology crew at this property.  She and her husband also make some top wines in the Douro and her parents own a wonderful property in the Estremadura region, just north of Lisbon.

 

We especially like the 2006 vintage of the Quinta Vale D. Maria Douro red. Part of the wine was fermented in stone lagares and part in stainless steel tanks.  The wine comes from 60 to 70 year old vines and spent 20 months in oak.  It's a medium-full bodied red, comparable to top Napa Cabernets or upper level Rioja.  

We found the Port here to be quite good, as well.

***
And they make a wine from a vineyard owned by a fellow who was a friend of Cristiano's father...

It's the 2005 Casa de Casal de Loivos.  Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarilla and 22 other varieties are incorporated into this exceptional wine.  It's been matured in French oak, mostly new barrels.  We like the intensity of the wine and its style.  Sure, you can claim it is not "typical" Portuguese red wine.  But it's darned good.  Van Zeller mentioned this property is owned by an older gentleman.  There are less than 2 hectares and so production is rather small.
Serve this in place of a good Bordeaux or California Cabernet.  
Only a few hundred cases were produced.  Rare.

 

Currently in stock:  2005 CASA DE CASAL DE LOIVOS "Douro" Red  (List $45)  SALE $39.99
2006 QUINTA D. VALE MARIA Douro Red $44.99

 

CHRYSEIA

We are certain most people looking for Portuguese wines are hoping to find something inexpensive and drinkable.

For many people, the idea of spending more than ten bucks on a bottle of wine is crazy.  

So, if you are one of those people, please scroll down the page to some of the other wines featured here, because this is definitely not for you!

The Symington family owns tremendous properties in Portugal's Douro Valley, producing a great range of prestigious Port wines.  Graham's, Dow's and Warre's are their leading labels, amongst others.  

Some years ago we stopped in to pay them a visit and were graciously invited to stay for lunch.  I recall them serving a pork chop alongside a carafe of "house" wine, a table wine made for their own enjoyment but nothing terribly fancy.  The wine tasted good, but was certainly simple.  

I wondered why they didn't consider, given the warm climate of the Douro, making something more interesting or noble.  

Years later, they embarked on a collaborative effort with Bruno Prats, the former owner of a top Medoc property, Château Cos d'Estournel in St. Estèphe.

They have really come up with something exceptional, the wine being called Chryseia.  "Douro" is Portuguese for "golden" and "chryseia" is Greek for golden, which is what your credit card needs to be if you're going to buy this wine.  

The wine is uniquely Portuguese, though you will find a fair contribution from French oak barrels on the nose and palate.   The fruit character, though, is exceptional.  Touriga Nacional is the main grape, augmented with Touriga Franca, Tinto Roriz (Tempranillo elsewhere) and Tinta Co.  

They vinified the grape separately and assembled a blend, eliminating something like 60% of the wine.  I suppose that 60% now is offered to lunch guests with a pork chop.  The remaining 40% is superb by any measure.  

We find the 2000 to be very drinkable now.  You can pair it with red meats (stewed or grilled), duck, etc.  The wine will probably cellar handsomely, too.

A second label of Chryseia, recently tasted, was certainly "second" in quality.  No thanks.

Currently in stock:  2000 CHRYSEIA sale Sold Out

 

QUINTA DA LEDA

This is a wine now made under the Sogrape umbrella from the Casa Ferreirinha.  It's a Douro Valley wine and is produced from fruit grown in the "Douro Superior" region.  It's an important red, vinified from Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz grapes.  

Their most famous wine has been "Barca Velha," the "Penfolds Grange Hermitage" of Portugal, if you will.  Whatever major league wine you compare it to, (Vega Sicilia of Spain, BV Private Reserves of Napa from the late 1950s or 1960s, top Bordeaux, etc.), it's expensive.  I put a bottle on my dinner table along with the less costly Quinta da Leda and we found the Leda wine to be quite good and the scarcity tax was less.

We have a few bottles of the 2004 in stock.  It's a magnificent red, cedary, woodsy and complete.

Currently in stock:  2004 Quinta da Leda $49.99

VALE DO BOMFIM

Since the price of a bottle of wine has climbed to dizzying heights all over the planet, it's little wonder we are now seeing hugely expensive wines coming from various regions of Portugal.

Though the Douro is firstly famous for its Port wines, the region is certainly capable of producing world class red wines.  Some are hugely expensive and some are actually priced within the realm of reason.  We have noticed, of course, that the price does not always correlate to the quality of a wine.

Many of the really expensive bottlings seem to carry a scarcity tax or a the costs of a marketing campaign.  We have trouble pouring those "features" into a wine glass.

The Symington family makes quite a range of wines, owning extensive acreage in the Douro.

Their Dow bottling of table wine from the 2005 vintage, the second  year this is offered commercially.  It's a blend of Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), with 20 percent Tinta Barocca.  The wine does have a bit of tannin (but it's softer than the 2004) so pairing it with red meat actually softens one's impression of the wine.  If you can decant it an hour, or so, before dinner, that's all the better.  

Currently in stock:  VALE DO BOMFIM 2005 DOURO $10.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PEGOS CLAROS

Here in the Palmela appellation we find the grape Castelão.  It goes by other names around Portugal.  Castelão Francs is found in Alentejo, Estremadura, Setúbal and in Ribatejo where it goes by the regional name João de Santarém.  Some people also know the variety as Periquita, or "little parrot."

We tasted the 1999 vintage and immediately liked it.  The wine reminded me a bit of some of the Nebbiolo wines we enjoy in Italy's Piemonte region.  Too bad Barolo and Barbaresco cost $40 a bottle on the "low" end of the spectrum! Pegos Claros, however, is a mere ten bucks!  It's also smoother than even most mature, well-aged Piemontese reds.  The 2000 vintage, when it first arrived, was a bit tight...we asked to have another look some months later and now find the wine is more interesting.  Medium-bodied and mildly earthy...a good, soulful wine for modest money.

Castelão is the primary grape in the Palmela region.  The soils in this area near Lisbon tend to be rather sandy.   In fact, in researching this wine in particular and the Castelão grape in general, I'm amused to read the tasting notes of every expert who describe the wines as having a "tar" tone to the nose, so my likening the wine to Barolo is sensible.

The Pegos Claros estate is part of a large wine company which owns vineyards all over the countryside.  This property is in the eastern part of the Palmela region, quite near its border with the Alentejo.  The property covers some 600 hectares, with about 40 being planted to Castelão.  Three-quarters of the vines are quite mature, being more than 30 years old.  The other 10 hectares are close to ten years of age.  

I read in a book on Portuguese wines that the estate still does some "foot treading" of the grapes and that the wines are fermented in stone lagares.  The wine is matured in Portuguese oak barrels for about a year and then is given substantial bottle aging before release.  This is certainly "old world" wine, being a far cry from today's wines-on-steroids.  

At eleven bucks a bottle for a seven year old, mature red wine, this is well worth a look.  Bob bought a bottle in July of 2009 and said it was remarkably good...it's developed well and if you give it some air, it's a grand bottle for small money.

 

Currently in stock:  2000 PEGOS CLAROS  $10.99

 

 

 

 

MORE PORTUGUESE TABLE WINES

 

PORTUGUESE DESSERT WINES

By the way...we also have Sagres Beer from Portugal, as well as some brandies and liqueurs.

Wine Tasting Today

TO INQUIRE ABOUT A WINE:  gerald@weimax.com

Copyright © 1999 WEIMAX WINES & SPIRITS
Last modified:  September 2, 2010