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Portugal's
Alentejo
Part
7: Mouchão
 Mouchão is a wonderful estate, but perhaps a bit of a
paradox. On the one hand, it has the most traditional winery you can
imagine; on the other, the vineyards have a fairly elaborate
modern-styled double trellising system (see picture above). To
understand this apparent paradox, we have to look at the recent-ish
history of the Herdade.
Mouchão has been owned by the Reynolds family since
the mid-19th century, when Thomas Reynolds set out south from Porto to
the Alentejo in search of a cork estate. He found Mouchão, all 900
hectares of it. Even today the estate is mostly cork grove, with a bit
of vineyard - although its the wine that it is known for.
 In
1974 revolution, the Alentejo region became the setting for a rural
uprising, and as part of this the Mouchão estate was taken over by the locals, who formed the 25th
April Co-operative (see the barrel, pictured right). Two
things happened: the vineyards were trashed and a lot of the wine
stored here was drunk. The property was restored to the family, who came back in 1985/86 and started a rebuilding program.
Thus the
vineyards have been completely replanted, but the winery has been left
more-or-less alone, because the quality of the wine here was already well
established.
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Inside the
winery: the doors open to receive the grapes, which go into the
stone lagar, where fermentation occurs with foot treading: a
gentle method of extraction. From here the wine is pressed and
racked off into large barrels (each holding a couple of thousand
litres), or the barriques shown here on the left. |
When
the revolution occurred there were 34 hectares of vines, and the goal
is to bring the vineyard area back to this level. A significant feature
of the Herdade is the high proportion of Alicante Bouschet grown here:
the main wine has 80% of this grape. It's what is known as a
teinturier, which means that the pulp as well as the skins is
pigmented. This makes super-dark wines, but frequently Alicante
is only used as a minor blending component because it is considered a
bit rustic. Not so here.
One
interesting aside: Mouchão makes use of a novel fig
tree bird protection system: figs ripen at the same time as the grapes
presenting the birds with an easier and perhaps tastier meal, so the
grapes are spared.
 For
the main wine, after
the first winter 25% of the wine goes into new barrels, the rest into
foudres. Then, at the end of the third year, a final selection is made.
Second wine Dom
Rafael, which has a lower proportion of Alicante, starts life the same way, but 50% goes into
second use 225 litre
barrels.
The
wines are hugely impressive and ageworthy - this estate is clearly one
of the stars of the Alentejo. As well as the wines tasted here,
there's also a super-cuvee called Tonel 3 & 4, which I didn't try
on this visit, but have since managed to track down. It's very special
indeed.
Dom
Rafael Branco 2004
A blend of Arinto and Antão Vaz. This expressive, full white has
a distinctive smoky, spicy edge to the ripe melon and lemony fruit.
The palate is rich, broad and quite spicy with lovely rich-textured
fruit. Delicious and full. Very good/excellent 90/100
Dom
Rafael Tinto 2003
This is mainly Trincadeira with Alicante Bouschet and Aragonêz.
Rich, dark, full spicy nose with complex lush fruit. The palate is
savoury and dark with good depth of fruit and some nice spicy
structure. There's a lovely savoury depth here: it's not overtly
fruity. Delicious. Very good/excellent 90/100
Mouchão
2001
The 100th vintage at the estate. This is a blend of 70% Alicante
with 30% Trincadeira. Very savoury, dark, intense spicy nose with a
strong savoury meaty streak. The palate is dark, savoury and spicy
with firm tannic structure and a distinctive meaty, spicy edge. A wine
with real appeal. Very good/excellent 93/100
Mouchão
1990
Wonderful open, spicy nose: evolved, earthy, savoury and perfumed,
but still showing some big sweet fruit. The palate is evolved, spicy
and ripe with rich dark fruit and a tobbacoey, herby edge. Satisfying
and rich. Still quite tannic, but drinking very well now.
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