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Portuguese Table Wines
- CHARAMBA Douro Valley Red
SALE PRICED $5.19
 You probably thought Charamba was some sort of Latin dance. Nope.
It's a reasonably-priced, modest red wine from Portugal.
- Coming from the Douro Valley, this is made of some of the same principal varieties as
Port. We've had Charamba wine in the shop for a number of years and it is a
surprisingly nice, slightly rustic red. There's a spiciness to this which
recalls some Southern Rhone reds. The grape varieties for this include Touriga
Francesa, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz. Matured for less than a year
in
wood.
- The 2005 is the current vintage. It's a medium-bodied, mildly
spicy red. Much like its predecessors, this is a great little wine
at a most affordable price.
Here's an inexpensive, everyday red wine with some soul! We
get calls for this from all over the countryside. These are even
more prevalent since the San Francisco Chronicle printed an article on
"Bargain-Priced" wines in late 2006.
W. Blake Gray wrote:
| 2004 Aveleda Charamba Douro ($4.79) This is the best under-$5 bottle I've had this year. It's made by Aveleda, a large Portuguese company best known for Vinho Verde. Weimax wine buyer Weisl says it's a store favorite, and no wonder, with its flavors of cherry, berry, earth and spice. Consider buying this one by the case. |
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We are amused that so many people would, actually, buy 12 bottles of this
wine without tasting it! We do sell it by the bottle, of course,
making it possible to buy a single, go home and taste it to see if it's a
wine of any appeal.
One person called from 50 miles away to inquire about buying a case...they
will spend, at 40-cents a mile for their auto expense, $4 for bridge toll
and at ten-bucks-an-hour for their own time, $64 to buy a $60 case of
wine.
We suggest decanting it and letting it breathe for about an
hour.
They recently "updated" the label. You can decided for
yourself if it's an improvement.
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- QUINTA DO BACALHÔA
 Visit
Portugal's capital city and you're not far from the hills of Serra da Arrábida.
These are south of Lisbon and worth a visit to an estate famed for its
elaborate gardens and its collection of "azulejos," Portuguese
tiles.
But the place is also on our radar screen for its majestic red wine. I
think we first discovered this wine back in the 1980s when it was a rather
brand new estate. The 1979 was their first. The property, as I
understand it, changed hands a few years ago and was bought by the JP Vinhos
firm which seems dedicated to making wines capable of competing in the
international arena.
Quinta do Bacalhôa's 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, have the barrels being brand new. After a year
or so in wood, the wine is bottled and left to mature in the cellar...
Currently we have the 2000 vintage. 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: 2000 Quinta do Bacalhôa $29.99 (last bottles)
QUINTA VALE D. MARIA
 Though
this is a 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.
We tasted a magnificent red wine of this estate. It's the 2003 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.
Ellen & Cristiano Van Zeller
Serve this in place of a good Bordeaux or California Cabernet.
Only a few hundred cases were produced. Rare.
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- Currently in stock: 2003 CASA DE CASAL DE LOIVOS
"Douro" Red $32.99
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- CHRYSEIA
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 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
Cão.
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
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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 1999 in stock. It's a magnificent red,
cedary, woodsy and complete.
Currently in stock: 1999 Quinta da Leda Sold Out Presently
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
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- PEGOS CLAROS
 Here
in the Palmela appellation we find the grape Castelão. It goes by
other names around Portugal. Castelão Francês 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.
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 ten bucks a bottle for a seven year old, mature red wine, this is well
worth a look. -
- Currently in stock: 1999 PEGOS CLAROS Sold Out
The 2000 was not as spectacular when we tasted it...
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- MORE PORTUGUESE TABLE WINES
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PORTUGUESE
DESSERT WINES
By the way...we also have Sagres Beer from Portugal, as well as some brandies and
liqueurs.
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