jamie goode's wine blog: A dark Portuguese

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

A dark Portuguese

Tonight I sip something dark, Portuguese, a bit unusual, and totally enjoyable. It's from the wild country north of the Douro, where some dude built a big house and then decided to plant a vineyard. From these vines winemaker Rui Cunha has produced a cracking wine with bags of savoury personality (see www.vallepradinhos.pt).

Valle Pradinhos Tinto 2003 Tras-os-Montes, Portugal
Beautifully packaged in a Burgundy-shaped bottle and with an elegantly simple label, this is a lovely gutsy red that reminds me of the best wines of southwest France. It has a bright, savoury spicy nose with dark fruits and a hint of tar. There's a gravelly minerality to the palate, which has tight dark fruits with a spicy kick, and plenty of tannins. The result is very refreshing, drinkable and utterly food friendly. There's even a hint of elegance here - it isn't overly rustic. I like it a lot. Very good/excellent 90/100 (use wine-searcher.com to locate stockists)

Aside: did any of you catch Oz and James' Big Wine Adventure on BBC2 tonight? Wine is back on national television. And there was a cameo role for my chum Sam Harrop MW, who came across rather well. My thoughts on this programme follow tomorrow.

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8 Comments:

At 11:49 PM, Anonymous Doug said...

Is James meant to be a regular geezer or a version of uncomprehending everyman? Will Oz ultimately effect a Damascene conversion, or will these two be locked in TV purgatory, condemned to be the gently bickering odd couple. Perhaps they will learn something from each other: Oz will discover how to prang cars into trees at great speed and James will resolve that his metier is twirling a mean glass in the company of Michael Broadbent (yeah, right). I suppose that it's better, he says grudgingly, than having no coverage of wine on national TV, but as usual the characters and the set-up get in the way of the message. I guess that's entertainment!

 
At 12:51 PM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

I think the production values may make this show fall between two stools* myself.

i.e. The reality TV watching "great unwashed" (there's probably a more technical term for this!) won't watch it and the middle classes will find it unfunny and lacking in content.

I'm going to give it another chance, but find it all too annoying thus far.

*And I'm not referring to the protagonists of the piece here (who lack the initial 's')...

 
At 1:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought James May came across as incredibly small-minded, dour and generally not fit for purpose... no wonder Clarkson has him on Top Gear, he makes JC look like Des O'Connor for amiability!
Like Alex, I will give it one more chance, but under protest.

Ben Smith

 
At 2:08 PM, Anonymous Shon said...

I didn't like the pseudo-Sideways approach, and the supposed conflict between presenters became tiresome and detracted from the main subject. I would have preferred Oz just to present on his own - surely he didn't win those awards for accessibility for nothing?

 
At 10:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved the programme. Perhaps because this this is I dont necessarily assume that presenters are always playing parts (May looked and acted exactly as he does on Top Gear - either this is how he is; or how he chooses to portray himself - I go for the former). By definition, we as readers of this site are thrilled by wine - having a presenter with screen presence who isnt, is just great. Roll on next week.

 
At 11:32 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Thanks for the comments. On the whole, I agree.

 
At 10:38 AM, Blogger Jan-Tore Egge said...

Never had a wine from Tras-os-Montes, but this sounds interesting. Do they use the same grape varies as in the Douro?

The link doesn't work for me, BTW.

 
At 11:38 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Jan-Tore, there's Tourigan and Tinta Amarela, but some Cab Sauv too.

Agreed that James hasn't done himself any favours thus far - he comes across as a bit of a mean spirited prima donna.

 

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