By: Wes Marshall
Photography by: Christopher J. Davies
It might seem strange to refer to Portugal as having a Wine Renaissance. After all, the Portuguese have been making wine for 2600 years! For the last few centuries, people all over the world have collected the famous sweet wines of Porto, and tens of thousands of folks have cut their wine teeth with Lancers and Mateus. For some reason, the other quality wines of Portugal have never caught on. So what happened?
Several things, as it turns out. First, the country was under a fascist dictatorship for 40 years and they had very little interest in export. Of course, you don’t need to export much when you have oil-and mineral-rich African colonies sending you enormous sums of money. When the dictatorship was overthrown, things were a little chaotic and it took over a decade for Portugal to gain admittance to the European Union. The entry into the EU brought Portugal into trade relationships with its neighbors, but it also brought new rules for winemaking.
Of course there were certain visionaries who were already making world-class wines. Winery owners like Luis Pato, João Portugal Ramos, brothers Miguel & Tomás Roquette (of Quinto do Crasto) and the Symington family (of Dow’s, Warre’s and Graham’s Ports and the Chryseia winery) have been pushing the envelope at the high end of the market. They are at the vanguard of a growing group of winemakers who see Portuguese wines as competitive with any other in the world.
O Grupo dos 7 (or G7 as they call themselves) have also been spreading the word. Between the seven wineries (Caves Aliança, Caves Messias, Herdade do Esporão, J. M. Fonseca, J.P Vinhos, Quinta da Aveleda and Sogrape), they control over 75% of Portuguese dry wine exports. Their president, Paolo Amorim, has been a tireless supporter of Portuguese wines, a task that turns out to be a little more difficult than you might imagine. “We founded the Group in 1992, 12 years ago,” he told me. “At that time we were already considered pioneers, since there is no tradition whatsoever of associations of competitors in any industry in Portugal.” G7 is still considered to be a pioneer, because, as Dr. Amorim explained, “the Portuguese continue to have some difficulties in working together.”
Old traditions die hard, and Portugal is filled with old traditions. For years, most grape growers made their own wine for personal consumption and sold whatever grapes were left to the Port houses. As fewer Portuguese made wine at home, companies were created to make wines for the public. These wines were generally made from grapes harvested all over the country and the Portuguese never developed loyalty to a region or a grape (like we think of a Bordeaux or a Cabernet). People bought based on the label, which is great if you are a big company with a well known label, but pretty tough on smaller growers. What the wine industry needed was a way to develop interest in the regions of Portugal. They decided to adopt a classification system similar to France.
The Classification System
Portugal is no newcomer to classified wines. Porto has been classified since 1761 and the Dão, Vinho Verde and Moscatel de Setúbel were granted classified status in the first decade of the 20th century. After being admitted to the European Union, Portugal decided to establish standards similar to France. The highest classification is DOC (Denomination of Controlled Origin), which covers 19 wine regions. Next highest is IPR (Indication of Regional Provenance). Vinho Regional (Regional Wine) simply assures you that a wine comes from a place, but this is also the category where some of the most interesting work is being done, because it is the highest designation in which winemakers can try grapes that aren’t native to Portugal. The important DOC’s to remember are Douro, Dão, Vinho Verde, Bairrada and Alentejo. Just to make sure we are all confused, parts of Alentejo also fit in the Vinho Regional classification.
As always, when you are dealing with an unfamiliar wine area, nothing beats a wine merchant who knows your tastes and tries a lot of wines. Follow their lead.
So Which Wines Should We Drink?
I undertook a massive tasting of wines from all over Portugal to find some of the very best and let you know about them. What follows are the best of the best. Vinho Verde seemed like a good place to start. It’s been exported since the 13th century and it is the DOC area (after Porto) that most folks will have some familiarity with. The wines of Vinho Verde are generally white, light, low in alcohol, fruity and most attractive when young. In the north, much of it is made from the Alvarinho grape (Albariño across the border in Spain), while in the southern part, the wines are blended from Loureiro, Trajadura and Pedernã grapes. After working through some decent but mediocre wines, I came on two big winners. The 2003 Casa de Vila Verde Vinho Verde ($7) has a clean, pale color with green apple and bay leaf aromas. It is a stunningly good summer quaffer for the price. The other find was the 2002 Quinta da Aveleda Alvarinho Vinho Verde ($10), a light and frizzy wine, certainly not as intense as the Spanish versions, but with a delightfully long and complex finish.
The Portuguese make white wines throughout the country, and I found two other winners. Quinta da Romeira’s 2003 Arinto ($10) is reminiscent of a light Sauvignon Blanc, filled with subtle tropical fruit aromas and finishing off with a touch of tartness. Arinto is a grape to watch out for, especially from this DOC winemaker in Bucelas. If you like your white wines a little richer, the Esporão Reserva White ($14) is your ticket. Made from 20+ year old Arinto, Roupeiro and Antao Vaz grapes in the Alentejo area, this is a wine with a rich mouthfeel, pear and pineapple aromas and an absolutely seductive finish with cinnamon and almond flavors.
As good as some of the white wines are, red wines will probably be the key to Portugal’s renaissance. You can find good red wines in every price category except the hyper-expensive, and I found some superb values under $20 and sometimes way under $20. Most of these wines benefit from being drunk at about 65 degrees, where they pick up a little body. Desert dwellers beware; don’t drink these at room temperature!
Starting at the bottom of the price range, Monte Velho Red ($7) is from Alentejo where it is made by Esporão. Despite the low price, the wine has a deep garnet color with intense cherry and blackberry aromas capped by a hint of oak. A short finish is the only letdown, but this beats most $7 bottles of red wine. One of the great bargains of the tasting is Altano Douro, a DOC wine for just $8. This is a wine made from Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca grapes that just jumps out of the glass with cherry aromas followed by a nice fruitiness, marked acidity and soft tannins. It is most definitely an “Old World” style wine . . . no fruit bombs here. But what you get is amazing luxury for the price.
Jumping up the price scale a little, I found three wines that are well worth tracking down. First, João Portugal Ramos’s 2002 Marques de Borba Red from the DOC part of Alentejo ($12). Again, as was the case with all the recommended red wines, the color was clear, clean and deep garnet. This wine had strawberry and green pepper aromas with a medium body, very long presence on the palate and a very elegant taste. This wine reminds me of one of my favorite parts of the Portuguese wine experience – the wines have a true sense of place. None of these wines could be mistaken for Californian or French wines. Instead, the unique flavors of the terroir come through.
The 2001 Quinta de Roriz Prazo ($14) is a little lighter in body than the previous wines, but it’s also more complex, with intense cherry and cinnamon scents married to just the right amount of French oak vanilla. The flavors are spicy and long lasting. Fans of Pinot Noir would really enjoy this wine as a change of pace. The final wine in the under-$20 range is Esporão Reserva Red ($16.50). This is a wine to please a Zinfandel fan. Beautiful color along with concentrated vanilla (from new American oak) and a jammy red fruit bouquet make a mouth-watering start, but the rich flavors, soft tannins and substantial body make it a standout.
The highest rated wine of all that I tasted is Quinta de Roriz Reserva ($22), a blockbuster wine with deep colors, fat viscosity and powerful fragrances. Take a whiff once and you’ll get vanilla and raspberries. Let it rest for a few seconds and try it again. Now hints of tobacco, coffee, chocolate and leather start creeping in. This is a racy wine, for folks who like to spend several minutes sniffing their wine. By the time you taste it, the rich fruit, refreshing acidity and firm tannins will get your immediate attention, but the very long and harmonious finish is what will make you come back. If this wine had a French or Californian label on it, it would cost about $60.
I’m also excited about the 2001 Chryseia ($30) from Prats and Symington, a joint venture between the Symington family and Bruno Prats, the former owner of Chateau Cos d'Estournel and current owner of Chile’s hot new winery, Viña Aquitania. Both parties aim to make great Douro wine and they are sparing no expense, using high quality grapes, slow maturation and good quality barrels. The result is an intense wine with blackberry, vanilla and cinnamon aromas and an elegant structure. The body is substantial and there is enough tannic oomph to predict a nice, long life for this wine. João Portugal Ramos’s 1999 Marques de Borba Reserva ($50) is an Alentejo wine that many people might confuse with a Côte Rôtie. They share a smoky earthiness with undercurrents of leather and meat. Drink it alongside s steak, and the bright red fruits come to fore. As good as this wine is now, it is still fairly closed and will taste even better in a few years.
Final Thoughts
Portugal’s dry wines are improving rapidly. Their lack of international recognition is financially hard on the wineries, but a boon to buyers, but it won’t last forever. As more people around the world taste the best of the Portuguese wines, prices will go up. Until then, we should all take advantage of the fact that so many of these wines come at bargain basement prices compared to their quality. So drink up while it’s easy on the pocket and enjoy the renaissance of Portuguese wines.
Quinta Covella breaks tradition with modern label design
Almost all of the Portuguese wine labels on the market have a reserved traditional European appearance, depicting a Quinta or Vineyard scene with Appellation and varietal on the front. Quinta Covella has created a fresh and modern approach with their bold graphics and color coordinated top capsules. Nuno Araujo, Proprietor comments, “Because of the unique combination of climate (Douro's Baixo Corgo), our sandy, granite soil, the Quinta's own shape (an amphitheatre), vinification and blends, COVELA wines have a specific personality; I thought they should show it from a first look. I launched the new label concept with my 1995 COVELA Colheita Seleccionada. Since our vintage 2001, all labels and capsules began using the new design and color code. In the beginning, people loved them or hated them. But after esteemed wine writer Jancis Robinson praised them, the labels acceptance in the marketplace grew enormously…even with journalists! Restaurants and specialized wine shops enjoy their easy "code" which stands out on wide shelves. It is a concept that I am happy with, and will be further enhanced, in the future!”