Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It’s time, once again, to endure the endurable, informative Thursday Newsletter of Forthcoming Carpe Vinum Tastings and the Written Wramblings to Which It Wrefers.This week we’re headed back to Portugal for a refresher of refreshing refreshments. Every once in a while we must refresh with the Portuguese wines and, especially, with the Ports! Why? Because they’re tasty, for one good reason. Another good reason is that Portuguese wines are shedding an old reputation for mediocrity and we have been experiencing wines that are improving with every vintage. And that usually spells out values, too.

Now one thing that makes Portuguese wines so fascinating is they are made almost exclusively with native Portuguese grape varietals. You can occasionally see the traditional boring old Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot popping up for International recognition, but for the most part it’s grapes we’ve mostly never heard of. Well, there is the Tinta Roriz, which is the Portuguese name for the Spanish Tempranillo grape. Beyond that, it’s pretty-much an exclusive club. And not very often are any of these grape varieties seen outside Portugal. Touriga Nacional, commonly agreed upon as the best grape that is used to make Port, is sometimes planted elsewhere in the world, primarily for other Port-style wines. And I’m sure botanists are noodling with different cuttings in their labs, and such. But for the most part, we’ve got wine exclusives abound in Portugal. So with this in mind, Portugal is a wine hobbyist’s paradise, considering the wealth of unique wines and grape possibilities.

Next in line after unique grapes are Portugal’s unique winemaking styles: Port and the distant cousin, Madeira. Port wine is certainly what Portugal is best known for, at least for the last few hundred years after a couple Englishmen discovered the fortified wine. Once the rest of England was introduced to the wine, the English started setting up shop in Porto and monopolizing the wine trade for a time. I think things are a bit more beneficial to the Portuguese people nowadays, but most of the Port houses are still British owned.

How Port is made is definitely an important aspect to know about. Quite simply, the Port-style is “muting” a red wine during fermentation by adding brandy. This halts the fermentation by killing off the yeasts, preserving the natural sugars in the grape juice and also adding a healthy dose of alcohol. Well, considering the brandy added is about 77% alcohol, I guess we can’t really call that a “healthy” dose. (Not healthy for the yeast cultures, anyway). There are more styles of Port than I have space to list, but they all fall into two categories: Tawny Ports, which are barrel-aged, and Ruby Ports, which are bottle-aged. Tawnies will be lighter and nuttier, and rubies are redder in color and are fruiter.

To take things to the next level, there is the wine of the Portuguese island of Madeira. Years ago (many, many years ago. . .like a couple hundred years) the island was used as a port of harbor. The wine of Madeira, made in the same way as Port, was shipped to Australia and the Far East. The winemakers did not realize that the Madeira wine was being cooked at temperatures between 110 and 120 degrees for a matter of about 6 months in the cargo holds of these ships. The style was immensely popular at its destinations, and that style continues today. Currently, due to a giant-cargo-sailing-vessel shortage, the wines just go through a simulated voyage in large heated wine ovens called “estoufas”. Some Madeira, the better stuff, is spared the estoufas, put in a barrel and left to bake in the sun for a matter of 20 to over 100 years. Fascinating, yes? Also delicious.

So I’ll have some of everything I’ve talked about. 5 regular wines, 2 ports and one Madeira for the Extra-Special-Satellite Pour! Come experience Portugal the way it was meant to be experienced: Er . . . um . . . with wine!

So Friday, September 15th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Portugal!!!
Allanca 2005 Vinho Verde, Minho
Quinta dos Roques 2002, Vinho Tinto, Dao
V. Leite de Faria 2003 Gloria, Douro
Casa Santos Lima 2004 Touriga Nacional, Estremadura
Cortes de Cima 2004 Chamine, Alentejo

Porto!!!
Quinta Vale do Maria 2001 Late Bottled Vintage, Porto
Kopke 10 Year Tawny, Porto

Madeira!!!
Cossart Gordon 5 Year Malmsey, Madeira

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours, $4 for the Madeira Pour.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Zinfandel!

M