jamie goode's wine blog: A brace of Portuguese reds

Thursday, December 27, 2007

A brace of Portuguese reds

Two Portuguese reds this evening. Different regions - the Douro and Alentejo - but sharing the same rather elegant font face for the name on the label (was the same designer employed?). As an aside, over the last few days I've been decanting all the reds I've been drinking. It seems to have worked quite well, and it's something I might be doing more of. Must get an early night tonight: I'm playing golf first thing tomorrow.

Malhadinha Nova Monte da Peceguina 2006 Vinho Rehional Alentejano, Portugal
I'm enjoying this new wave Alentejo red, but there's just something about the finish that I'm not totally sure about. Deep coloured, it shows ripe, rather meaty but otherwise pure blackcurrant and raspberry fruit. It's really engaging, with good concentration. The palate has a nice freshness to it with - rather higher acidity than you might expect from such a ripe wine - and a finish that has a bit of a prickle to it. Is this a hint of Brettanomyces? It's really hard to say. But it stops what would otherwise be an excellent wine from being quite as good as it might have been. 89/100

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Grande Reserva 2005 Douro, Portugal
This is a concentrated, tight wound, rather classy Douro red with vibrant red and black fruits ensheathed by lots of creamy, vanilla new oak that adds a sweet sheen to the otherwise quite savoury, high acid character on the palate. There's a hint of austerity to the tannic structure, which, combined with the acidity gives a savouriness to the wine. An ambitious wine that may well develop in interesting ways, but at the moment the oak and the fruit aren't working completely in harmony. But what I do like is the aromatic plummy, herby character on the nose, that's almost Burgundian in poise. Maybe a day in the decanter might help. 90/100

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4 Comments:

At 5:02 PM, Anonymous Oryan said...

Love the site. It's refreshing to find a blog about wine.

 
At 11:07 PM, Blogger Jeff said...

Just the other night I opened a 2003 Bordeaux that was really tight. I remembered that I had been given a decanter a couple years ago so I got it out and decanted this wine. I couldn't believe the difference it made. Needless to say, I'm keeping the decanter closer at hand and hope to try it again soon.

 
At 10:21 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Oryan, thanks for the nice comment.

Jeff, it does seem to make quite a difference. I don't know why I've not used my various decanters more.

 
At 8:25 PM, Anonymous Sarah-payday said...

Great site, just what i was looking for, real collector here :-)

 

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