Tonight I've been packing for a trip to London and as I go I am enjoying a nice bottle of Portuguese red. Specifically from the Douro Valley in the North of the country, along the same river known as the Duero in Spain. Douro w
ine is mostly known on the international stage as the source of some of the world's most highly regarded wine: Port. That fortified, sweet and long lived wine is the stuff of legend but in a valley so blessed with an abundance of old vines, a plethora of cultivars and prime vineyard space, it is ridiculous to assume that top quality table wine is not made there as well.
Fruit forward and full bodied, it is a wonder that Portuguese reds are not more widely known. Perhaps they are suffering from some of the same malignancies that continuously frustrate German wine makers, with confusing terms, unfamiliar grape varieties and association with a stereotypical style. Whereas Germany contends with the misconception that all wines are going to be sweet and sickly, it may be that Portugal has the ghost of sweet fortified Port wine looming over it.Fortunately it does not take too long to get through the layers of retrograde pfaffery, and the winemakers are doing what they can to help. I'm not saying that the wineries are doing what many of the Bordelaise producers have done and Parkerised (made their wines suitable for Robert Parker's palette), rather they have made an effort to be more engaging with modern style but unchanging class. For example, Dirk Niepoort of the legendary Niepoort Port house has made a conscious effort to put more emphasis on table wines, rather than his easily respectable vintage ports. He is putting forward excellent examples of dry table wines, such as his 'Redoma' range alongside the truly world class 'Batuta.' Kitted out with classy but interesting labels and amazing quality it is a great first step to showing the world what Portugal is capable of.
Other Port houses are following suit with their own table wines, and really putting some good effort into what they are producing. Quina do Portal, another well respected house is putting out an excellent dry red made from a blend of Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca that represents excellent value with a definite nod towards high quality. Call it a sort of gateway wine into the world of excellent Douro. Hopefully what this will lead to is the development of interest in other quality wines from the Douro.
Other producers like Quinta do Macedos are going so far as to adopt the practice of the second wine with their 'Lagar de Macedos' and in so doing they have developed a pair of excellent bottlings, both of which are remarkably capable of standing the test of time, developing into something exciting and providing us wine geeks with another means of enjoying old wine. One of the greatest pleasures of wine is to track the development of a wine over the course of it's life. I love Rhône wines, young or old, but truly they are different wines entirely. The same bottle that was once deep, chunky and spicy, becomes leathery, briny and earthy. These Douro wines are perfect for that as well. They live for years and years and over time, the deep black fruit and intense body of youth becomes something different, refined and elegant.
Essentially, the Douro is one of those regions that stands at the top of wine. Bordeaux, Rhône, Burgundy, Napa and Mosel are all known the world over for their ability to produce mind-blowingly delicious wine. The Douro is right up there with the rest of them. Hopefully soon enough the rest of the world will catch on. Or hopefully they won't. Just leaves more for us!
Much Love,
G
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