Portuguese wines show some bargain prices
This week it will be three from Quinta da Aveleda in Portugal. I was introduced to them by Marie-Christina Batich and lost the notes in the shuffle due to a jam-packed season cheffing at Grove Market. Man, that place rocks. We are filled with reservations each day when I get in to work around noon. Back to the wine and let’s lead with Casal Garcia Sparkling Espumante Vinho Verde. Translation: sparkling, bubbling, green wine. Green in this connotation means slightly acidic, due to being picked early. Made from two new to you varietal grapes, Loureiro and Arinto. Very pale, slight green tint, generous small bead, green apple and floral nose, 11.5 percent alcohol, just a touch of sugar, 33g/L (S/L) that I find appealing in aperitif wine. Goes great with hard, spicy sausages and many tapas. Remember from former columns, tapas in Portuguese are called petiscos. Acidity provides fresh, clean mouth, balances residual sugar. Hints of tropical fruit on the finish. Well under $10, 87 points.
Next I looked at Casal Garcia Rosé, a blend of three more varietal wines you may be unaware of: Vinhado, Azal Tinto and Borracal. These can be found priced under $8. Look for raspberry and strawberry nose, repeated as berry flavors and balanced with crisp acidity, 11 percent S/L. European profile, 85 with 2 price points. For those who enjoy red, Quinta de Aveleda Fonte Nossa Senhora de Vandoma Bairrada Touriga Nacional Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 is a terrific buy, 92 points plus a price point for this blend of Cab and 70 percent Touriga National that can be found under $12. It is a lot of wine for the money.
Touriga Nacional fruit aromas with Cabernet tannins and 18 months in oak provide a wine that will cellar through 2020 but is drinking nicely now. The 2008 are 91 points but will be more difficult to locate. Could not locate recent release 2012 but I am fairly certain it will need cellar time.
Folks who are paying attention to the Euro financial news will know that Portugal and Spain, in addition to Greece, are struggling. As a result, wise shoppers should be looking at their wine. This is one of my reasons for covering them so much recently. VT Port drinkers should be shopping now. Many are at fire sale prices, as the wineries struggle with exchange rate issues provoked by their governments’ socialist priorities. I just read on the Yahoo Finance page that the largest European music concert, Roskilde, featuring McCartney, has a program in cooperation with Danish AG and Food Council to collect 25,000 liters of urine from 100,000 attendees, then apply it to a selected barley crop. The barley will be turned into beer for next year’s festival. The name of the event translated from Danish: ”From piss to pilsner.” I’m curious if the Xxtacy, coke, crack, cannabinoids, opiates and LSD residuals will be refined out before application to the Strawberry Fields forever. This is socialism as the Marx Brothers would depict it. You remember them, Billary, Shrillary, Barry and Jack.
On a much higher plane, a good summer read is,”The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr. Basic story is pre and WW2 as viewed by two tweenagers. One is a young German orphan, adept at math and radio, who becomes a soldier. The other a blind girl, adept at Braille.
The vehicle is a mystery surrounding a diamond named the Sea of Flames, which many are trying to hide or to find. It also depicts a slow climb to political awakening, with fairly well-drawn characters and lots of pithy comments.
Email John McDonald at chjonmc@yahoo.com.
