The Grand Annual ViniPortugal Tasting

Yes, I still am a Douro Valley fan so the biggest Portugese wine tasting of the year (in Finland) simply cannot be missed. I'm even trying to get a documentery about the area together and hopefully head out to film in the autumn. We'll see how that goes later. Right now, it's time to write about what was the ViniPortugal 2012 experience for me. I'd like to note here that many of the wines mentioned, if not all of them are blends. The main grape varieties in these blends are Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Temrpranillo), Tourgia Franca, Sousão and Tinta Barroca. You can check the grapes and percentages for each individual wine on the producers website or by asking your local wine shop.

I arrived anxious to get my "taste on", being sure that time will run out like last year. Met up with Ilkka Sirén at the Graham's section and started from there;

Graham's (of the gigantic Symington family) had their port wine well represented. The LBV from 2007 is a nice basic port that I think everybody should taste. It doesn't offer a mindblowing experience but is good quality and works out nicely every time they come out with a new one. The tawny port Graham's offer is nice too. My tasting notes include; "fresh, peppery, hazelnuts, spicy aftertaste" The two really great things on the Symington's line up - Graham's Natura - An Organic port now available at Alko - an always welcome product and a good port with depth (tasting notes; balance on oak, depth, berries, hint of spicyness) The real gem here though was Smith Woodhouse LBV from 2000 having all good LBV qualities and letting you really use time to analyze the wine.

Off to one of my favourites; Portal. Besides the amazing computer game, Portal is a great port wine producer. We visited them last year and it was a truly memorable experience. One of the best climbs on a dodgy road from the village of Pinhão with spectacular views only comparable with the stint from Quinta Do Crasto back down to Pinhão. Portal had their marvellous Colheita port from 2000. Tasting notes include; "blackberries, oak, small well balanced spicyness, sweet, nuts" They had their red there as well and I do enjoy and recommend it - good quality for the price, but for me Portal all about port wine. Like Symington, Portal has a long history in wine and they do know quality.

After Portal I quickly noticed Secret Spot. This is a cool project by Goncalo Sousa Lopes and Rui Walter Cunha. The genius winemaking duo chooses different vineyards every time to make their Secret Spot wines. 2008 was from the Alentejo area and 2007 from Douro. Both rich reds with lots of though put into them. I like this way of thinking - choosing vineyards from where they see a good batch coming. Tasting notes for the Alentejo Secret Spot 2008; "Blackcurrant, oak, low to medium tannins, lighter body", Douro Secret Spot 2007; "EPIC depth, oak, spices, berries". The Douro version is a prime example of an underrated Portugese red wine. Not many get a note from me saying EPIC, I mean it's a real gem that is still not known well worldwide and one of those things I can take over to any wine loving friend of mine and brag about knowing something special...

Next table was Quinta Do Crasto. I've had their wines mentioned earlier so I won't go deeper into that but I definately recommend tasting the whole line up. Pure quality. Ok, lets be honest - They had the best red wine in the whole event. The Reserva - Made from only the amazingly old vines, mixing 30-something grape varieties that make up a fragile and outstanding blend that is sure worth the money. Selling at Alko for 200€ a box (of six) it is a great choice to invest in. Notes included; "EPIC, really deep, powerful, long lasting, winner material". Oh, and I promised to mention their pool every time I mention them so here it goes again; they have that great terrace style pool where you kind of think you'll swim right off the edge. Worth a visit.

Next up; CVD Companhia dos Vinhos do Douro. I recommend to check out their Oboé range of reds. They capture some of the best qualities of Douro reds. Here are my notes - Oboé Superior "fresh, adicic, perky, spicy", Oboé Grande Escolha 2009 "good tannins, powerful, black currant" & Oboé Grande Escolha 2008 "softer tannins, more subtle than 2009, rich, good balance, still great body"

By now I was checking my watch constantly and picking what to go taste with the little time left. I thought that a couple of more random and less known (to me) wineries should be on the list so I give you Quinta Do Romeu. They had the most persona in their reds in a sense. These wines were not so similar to the qualities I mentioned earlier and I had that "I can't quite put my finger around it" moment where you taste something with character, but your mind runs out of adjectives to describe it. For me, it's mostly a good thing. I mean this can happen in a negative way, but not with Quinta Do Romeu. The Menéres family has an over hundered year history in winemaking (like many Quintas in the region) and the vines are planted 350m above sea level. The WHOLE 5000ha estate is 100% organic - think about that. Notes for the reds I was bad at describing - Colheita 2010; "Interesting acidity, short taste, great stew companion" - Reserva 2008 - "Another questionmark, softer, more developed, c'mon man!". Oh, and these guys are in the Douro Superior area, which is far inland, close to the Spanish boarder. This area is well respected (hint in the title) and many producers bought spots from there a while back. Now they are all sold out and are restricting producers from buying.

I'll finish off with some port. Quevedo (Also available at Alko) had the oldest port to offer. The Colheita from 1992 was "dense, raisins, figs, softened down well, great balance" and the 10 y.o Tawny "hazelnuts, sweet but acidic, great balance". The rather small Quevedo is something to check out and the price range is not bad for a 1992 port, that is a perfect example how nicely port ages.

From the many others I tasted, not alot of them were bad wines, but I have to cut this at some point. Hopefully I'll get to taste and write about the others some time soon...
All-in-all a great experience once again! Kudos to ViniPortugal - I'll see you next year!
Ps. The material and service at the event are outstanding. Thank you for taking care!

Go to Douro Valley!

Portugal, oh Portugal!

Still not quite recognized for it's fine wines, the Portugese deserve much more and are slowly getting there. Focusing on the north, my interests are all crammed into one huge stretch of river, from the Atlantic all the way across northern Portugal into Spain. What happens here in between is quite remarkable. Winery after another, vineyards filling the hills, all planted horizontally, making the surroundings look like massive green steps by the river, only to be disturbed by the occasional olive trees - The Douro Valley. Filled with narrow roads, lots of hills to climb, a great rural atmosphere and breathtaking views.

You must be thinking Portugal - Porto - Port Wine. Yes, there are hundereds of Quintas (wineries) devoted to the art of making Port, but I will not go into that now, I'll save my love for Port to another post. This is about the area and it's lovely reds, yes, epic lovely reds.

One might arrive to the valley by train, from Campanhã Station in Porto it takes approximately two and a half hours to a quite central town in the valley; Peso De Regua. From here a car is extremely important and one can be rented in town. Few minutes from town, northside of the river you will find Quinta Do Vallado - a stunning winery, expanded hotel and renovated facilities certainly give a convincing look for a quality winery. What they produce varies from Port to White and Reds, my favourites by far being the reds.

I love the fact that the vineyards are full of grape varieties from that area. You can instantly see that there is a lot of knowledge about the varieties, since they have dealt with them for hundreds of years. To just take, say Shiraz and plant it in Douro would be somewhat blasphemy, instead you get rich flavours from "locals", such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Sousão. Not like Shiraz doesn't have any history - My point is that they have sticked to their own, not borrowed from abroad and it gives you a certain level of genetics and knowledge that can't be found everywhere.

The two reds I would like to mention from Vallado are the Touriga Nacional and Sousão. There is a nice depth in the small yielding Touriga Nacional, tough spirit, great body and superb amount of tannins for a youngster like this, making it a perfect companion for meaty dishes kept slightly on the medium side. And hell, this is QUALITY. No fooling around here, seriously a end product full of potential. The other favourite of mine is the Sousão. It certainly shows even more character, leaving you guessing for a while what the hell it is trying to be, in a good way! Like a disorted punk rock song to an elderly lady in the eighties, who later becomes an anarchist. It's that "Boom!" feeling first, followed by analysis. Quite rarely used as a single variety, yet rarely blended for Port, hints of raisin, darker berries and a well balanced spicyness. Vallado sure nailed it.

The variosity of wineries in the Douro Valley is amazing. You get big powerhouses with well known international brands to the smaller contract farmers producing grapes to whoever wants to buy them. Obviously everything in between too - Like the cozy Quinta Do Tedo. Situated by the road from Peso De Regua to Pinhão, this rather small Quinta has much character to offer - Nice light summery Rosé Port and a good basic red that really convinced me. I would definately recommend to stop by.

Wineries might seem close to each other, but the ever twisting mountain roads keep things rather sparce and the many times you simply want to stop to enjoy the views - all eat into your schedule. Remember to plan timetables with a local, or at least ask how long does it take to get somewhere, not just relying on a map. The climb from Pinhão to the Portal Winery is recommended, as is the road from Pinhão to Crasto Winery. The sense of adventure, thats what is missing from many wine producing areas these days - In the Douro Valley it is present, unique and honest.