The
wines of Cortes
de Cima, Alentejo, Portugal
Cortes de Cima, 7690-999 Vidigueira, Portugal
Tel: +351 284 463119 Fax: +351 284 463292
E-mail: wine@cortesdecima.pt
Website: www.cortesdecima.pt
The Alentejo has led the way in Portugal’s wine revolution.
It’s a region that has enjoyed tremendous success over the last
decade, producing red wines in two distinctive styles. On the one
hand, there is the traditional Alentejo style, perhaps typified by José
Maria da Fonseca’s José de Sousa, the Cartuxa wines from Evora, or
JP Vinhos’ Tinto de Anfora. On the other hand, there is the modern,
fruit-forward, almost new-world style that has been such a huge
commercial success and which has propelled this region forward so
fast. Cortes de Cima, owned by Hans and Carrie Jorgensen, falls firmly
into the latter bracket, and has rapidly established itself as one of
the leading wineries of this region.
The Alentejo is huge, with its flat plains covering almost a
third of the country. Much of this area is given over to cereal
production. It’s also hot, and irrigation is common. In contrast to
the northern regions, with their fragmented smallholdings, production
is dominated by larger, professional outfits. Cortes de Cima are
following in the trail João Portugal Ramos and Esporão, who have
mainly concentrated on local grape varieties but who have also been
working with Syrah, the only foreign grape to so far to have made much
of an inroad into the region. Cortes de Cima’s most celebrated wine,
Incognito, is in fact a varietal Syrah.
The great success of the Alentejo has been in making
thoroughly modern, concentrated wines that still retain a distinctly
Portuguese character, and this is what Cortes de Cima have done very
well. The relatively high prices reflect the strong local demand for
these wines, their high intrinsic quality, and the ambitions of the
producer. As an aside, Cliff Richard fans might like to know that the
first vintage of his wine, Vida Nova, was made here last year.
Chaminé Rosé 2001, Alentejo
100% Tempranillo. A vivid pink colour. Bright, fresh and rich,
with sweet strawberry fruit. Soft, sweet fruit on the palate. Very
seductive, and holds its 14.5% alcohol quite well. Very good
Chaminé 2000, Alentejo
Striking sweet herby nose with caramel notes and a medicinal edge.
Quite rich and full on the palate with attractive savoury herbal
character and good acidity. Shows some regional character. Very good+
(£6.99 Oddbins, Adnams, James Nicholson)
Courela 2001, Alentejo
Declassified Chaminé. This is a good glugger, displaying
attractive herby cherry fruit with a spicy twist. Otherwise it is
quite light and simple. Good/very good
(£5.50 Adnams)
Cortes de Cima 1999, Alentejo
Very rich sweet nose with a nice caramel and herbal character.
Good balance on the palate between the concentrated sweet fruit and the savoury herbal flavours and relatively high acidity.
Impressive density. Very good/excellent (£9.99 Oddbins, Adnams, James
Nicholson)
Incógnito 2000 Alentejo
This is a varietal Syrah. Striking nose shows lush, rich raspberry
fruit with some herbal complexity. Dense, rich textured palate with
lush liquoricey raspberry fruit, some spicy oak influence and smooth
tannins. Delicious stuff, this is a striking, concentrated wine. Very
good/excellent (£16.99 Oddbins, Adnams, James Nicholson)
Cortes de Cima Aragonês 2000, Alentejo
Deep coloured. Rich herby, spicy nose is quite complex. Palate is
dense, rich and savoury. The oak meshes well with the ripe fruit. Lots
of character here. Very good/excellent
(£19.95 Adnams)
Cortes de Cima Reserva 1998, Alentejo
Quite a rich caramel, liquorice and herb tinged nose with some
lush fruit. Midweight palate is quite elegant with herby, spicy
character. More traditional in style than the rest of the range. Very
good+
(£24.95 Adnams)
For
tasting notes of other Portuguese wines click
here
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