Beyond Port...
It is often thought that Portugal’s greatest contributions to the world of wine are Port, Madeira and cork. (Portugal is the world’s largest cork producer, with extensive forests of the cork oak whose bark ends up as wine bottle stoppers). But the quality of table wines available here is also phenomenal. Unlike the rest of Europe, Portugal has largely resisted the influx of international varieties. Instead, it has stayed with its indigenous grape varieties, making for a diverse and authentic set of wines.
We’ve put together a mixed case to showcase what Portugal is capable of. You’ll find some prestigious estates from the better-known regions of the Douro and Dao, as well as some boutique producers from less well-known areas and the islands. /DS
£315 for the 12-bottle case: you save £38.54, delivery is free.
12-bottle case includes one bottle of each of these wines:
2020 Quinta do Soalheiro Espumante Bruto: from the Minho Valley on the northern Spanish border, this traditional-method sparkling Alvarinho is a joy. Full of yellow citrus and stone fruit notes.
2021 Ramilo Branco: bright and fresh, showing citrus with a flinty minerality. This is an interesting blend of Arinto, Viosinho and Alvarinho from near Lisbon, produced with low intervention winemaking.
2021 Quinta dos Roques Encruzado: with a good amount of new oak, this Encruzado is deeply textured, yet at the same time, it’s intense, with grassy aromatics and fine tension. A great expression of this almost lost Dao variety.
2020 Niepoort Redoma Branco: this broadly textured yet still chiselled wine comes from one of the Douro’s most exciting wine makers: Dirk Niepoort. Serious and mineral, and while its delicious now it only gets better with a bit of cellar time.
2020 Quinta do Soalheiro Primeiras Vinhas: a superb example of Alvarinho from the Cerdeira family’s oldest vines. Summer aromatics and ripe fruit leap from the glass, and a textured mouthfeel from lees aging and a long barrel fermentation.
2020 Ilha do Pico Arinto dos Acores: Arinto is a wonderfully aromatic variety from the Azores islands. The wine shows expressive citrus and floral notes, with lovely texture and salinity.
2020 Conceito Bastardo: Bastardo is a synonym for Jura’s Trousseau grape variety. Quite how it made its way to Portugal is anyone’s guess, but it has been here for at least two hundred years. This wild, almost tangy red is bright, crunchy and delicious.
2019 Luis Pato Vinha Barrosa: a single vineyard cuvee from ancient vines. Concentrated and structured with impressive depth, attractive fruit profile and plenty of longevity. This is crying out for steak night.
2018 Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional: Touriga Nacional is one of Portugal’s flagship grape varieties, essential to Port. Dao estate Quinta dos Roques prove time and again that Touriga Nacional can also make immensely classy table wine. Rich, structured, and refined.
2017 Luis Pato Vinhas Velhas Tinto: Bairrada grower Luis Pato is a master of Baga, which in his hands often expresses itself with Nebbiolo-like structure and tannins. This dense and structured red comes from old vines planted in chalky soils.
2017 Niepoort Poeirinho: Poeirinho is an old name for Baga, and this wine is Dirk Niepoort’s nod to the traditional wines of Bairrada. Juicy, light and very fruit driven, yet with strong ageing potential.
2016 Venancio da Costa Lima Foral de Palmela: a single vineyard Castelao from the Setubal Peninsula, south of Lisbon. Seductive dark berry characteristics, combined with exotic spice, and the very fine-grain tannins of a wine made from grapes grown in sandy soils.
