Portugese wines....

[andrawes76]

I am honestly a very ignorant person when it comes to portugese wines. Im thinking about heading to a local store or perhaps calling up one of my distributors to give me a selection of portugese wines to consume and read about. Any suggestions?

[winoweenie]

Matuese?????(hehe)ww

[hotwine]

I like 'em, but rarely see them locally. However, just yesterday, picked up a couple of bottles of one at Costco, the 2004 José Maria da Fonseca & Van Zeller Douro Domini. Also have a stash per CT of almost two cases of 2001 Symington Douro Altano Tinta Roriz-Touriga Franca that's probably over the hill. In general, they're a bit rustic and pair nicely with bbq and Mexican food.

[TheEngineer]

I always have a few bottles of Portugese wine every year other than port. I love a dry white port (that really is more of a wine) that needs to be fresh.

Then I'll usually have a couple of bottles of Vinhos Verdes for the summer, a nice light and crisp aromatic white. For the reds, I like to stay in the Duoro. They produce these massive, backward wines that are improving but rather presented honestly. One of the better ones is Chryseia. If this was from Rioja, they would charge at least double for this. I just don't think that they are confident about their products yet on the market. There are also some really interesting wines from the Dao.

[TheEngineer]

right after i read your post, I noticed two articles on portugese wines [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

One in Nuvo (the glossy coffee table mag) talks about Quinta do Crasto and Tidings (a canadian mag) had a large article on the topic of affordable wines which in a recent tasting the portugese appeared to lead to pack with South Africa (not sure I agree with the SA side...).

[wdonovan]

Portuguese reds are I think the best kept secret in the wine world. Not much here to cellar for two decades but some nice fruity, easy to drink wines that price wise are as closer to free than anything you probably find worth drinking. As far as 'rustic' or 'coarse' it appears that these traits are being bred out of the region, starting at the higher quality vineyards naturally. We are very fond of the Touriga Nacional grape and buy a lot of simple but pleasant table wines from Alentejo, Dao, Douro and Bairrada. PW Your 'variety pack' idea is exactly what I did. I found a local-ish store with a large selection and had him make me up a mixed case. We tasted, made notes, tried another half a case. Now we have some nice alternatives for weekday-with-dinner beverages.

[Thomas]

Bairrada is a comer region.

Wish I could find more Portuguese wines in this neck of the woods, but don't get to try them frequently enough to make recommendations, Alex.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 11-05-2009).]

[VouvrayHead]

Just enjoyed an inexpensive table red from the Dao last night. Grilos, I think it was called. Nice value.

[TheEngineer]

PW,

Have you read this?
http://www.thewinedetective.co.uk/regional-reports/portugal/alentejo-travels-vinipax-october-2009/

From another board

[andrawes76]

Guys, a lot of great responses here. I plan to dig into wines from Portugal. Mike, good stuff on that link...THANK YOU! This is why we have the best forum!