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I bought this wine last year at a ridiculously cheap price in a sale from online Portuguese wine merchant Castas. It’s my last bottle, and I’m sad that I don’t have more. Once again, it shows just how good the Dao region, with its granitic soils, can be. Álvaro Castro 2007 Dão, Portugal
Yesterday’s New Douro tasting was one of the best yet. While the emphasis was on the 2009 vintage, producer’s also brought the odd older wine, which was appreciated. 2009 is a ripe, warm year, but despite the heat and lack of rain that characterized this vintage, the wines have a lovely purity and openness to [...] Sensational wines. Sensational food. Just what you want on a cold Tuesday night in January. Amaranth with sorrel; onion brioche with stilton cheese; thai explosion 2 Dirk Niepoort, one of the winegrowers I respect the most, was in town, and he kindly invited a small group to dine with him at Viajante in Bethnel [...] The Dao region of Portugal continues to impress. Here’s another good one, from organic winery Casa de Mouraz. Casa de Mouraz 2007 Dao, Portugal Really enjoyed this wine, which I previously blogged on just over a year ago. It’s a fresh, lively red wine with a hint of savoury, spicy meatiness that makes me think it may have a little Brettanomyces character (read more about this here). But this brett, if it is present, is at a level that [...] Here’s a short film from this year’s harvest at Quinta de Roriz in Portugal’s Douro region. This is where the famous table wine Chryseia is made. It’s a beautiful property. We also get to see the Mistral sorting machine at work: this uses a jet of air to blow away raisined berries which would contribute [...] Now this is pretty smart. It may only be an LBV, with a T-top rather than driven cork. But it’s actually a really good Port, and worth thinking about as something to have on hand as the nights draw in and finishing the day with a glass of something sweet, delicious and alcoholic becomes an [...] In this short film, Paul Symington describes the way his company have pioneered the use of mechanical foottreaders (also known as robotic lagares) for Port production. It’s not straighforward: Port needs a rapid but relatively gentle extraction, and the human foot is especially good at this.
A film from my recent Douro visit. It’s Graham’s spectacular Quinta dos Malvedos, shot the day before harvest began.
For more on Malvedos, take a look at the superb Graham’s blog. While I was staying in the Douro last week, I had a chance to see some historical pictures from the first decade of the last century. I’ve posted them online here. I find the Douro a fascinating region for many reasons – not least, the very real connection with history and tradition. Bringing the wines down [...] |
 This is the blog of wine journalist Jamie Goode, online since 2001. Feel free to nose around; your comments are welcomed.
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