Adventures in Wine > Portugal
Portugal
Although famous for its fortified Port wines from the Douro Valley, Portugal’s table wines are now emerging from the shadows. And nowhere more so than from the Douro itself, where wineries are making some wonderful reds from indigenous ‘Port’ varieties such as Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz. Elsewhere, Portuguese winemakers are finally making modern-style reds in regions such as Dao, the Alentejo, Ribatejo, and Bairrada.
Portugal’s white wines also continue to improve. Again, these have been transformed by better winemaking practices often imported from overseas. However, the grapes remain firmly Portugal’s own and so offer some truly unique flavors to the adventurous ABC (anything but Chardonnay) aficionado. At the same time, the regions are not well known with the most famous being Vinho Verde in the north of the country. (Financial Times)
Fâmega
Winery: Fâmega
Region: Portugal
Sub-region: Portugal
Vinho Verde, Fâmega
We have always thought of vinho verde as something of a wine curiosity since it’s neither green as the name would imply nor a still wine because of slight effervescence.
It’s hardly even a wine by today’s standards since it has only 9 percent alcohol!
It is a fantastically easy drinking aperitif wine with a sort of bluish hue, bubbles, and good acidity.
With the low price and low alcohol, you could really put some of this away.
Howard's Folly
Winery: Howard’s Folly
Region: Portugal
Sub-region: Alentejo
Howard’s Folly is a blend of Syrah and Alicante Bouschet – with a little help from Touriga Nacional. The Syrah provides richness and mouth feel, the Alicante structure and complexity and the Touriga adds spice and elegance. Each varietal is vinified in separate batches and teh exact nature of the final blend is determined after the evolution of each is understood. Halof of the wine undergoes maturation in a mix of new and carried over French and American oak barrels.