2005 Divinica Reserva

Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Alcohol: 14%
Price: unknown.
Closure: Cork

Produced by Quinta da Arnozela a quinta that I could find no further information about. This is a wine produced from a blend of Touriga Nacional (70%) and Tinta Roriz (30%) arguably two of the most important grapes in port production.

Here is what I thought of it:

Dark, deep purple - teeth-stainingly youthful - in colour; shows it's youth in the intensity and consistency of colour. The nose is quite powerful with plenty of dark berry fruit, spice and hints of french oak poking through here and there. Very much fruit-forward on the palate with plenty of rich black berry fruit, some vanillan oak and plenty of tannic grip. This wine is still very youthful and powerful that needs time to settle down, mature and integrate.

Casa do Raposo Fine Ruby Port

Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Alcohol: 20%
Price: €19,95
Closure: T-Cap

Casa do Raposo Fine Ruby Port is produced by Casal dos Jordoes, one of the first organic port producers. This producer is one of the smaller producers in the Douro producing around 140,000 litres of port, of which they bring 35,000 litres onto the market under their own labels, and 275,000 litre of table wine from their 50 hectares. Alongside this they also produce olives from 13 hectares of olive grove.

This ruby port is produced from a blend of the Touriga Franca (Francesca) (60%), Tinta Roriz (20%), Tinta Barroca (10%) and Touriga Nacional (10%) grapes.  These four varieties along with Tinta Cao and Tinta Amarela make up the most important grapes in port production (of the forty eight grapes types permitted).  Touriga Franca provides structure along with a mix of fruit and floral characters, Tinta Roriz (tempranillo) provides firm structure and flavors/aromas of dried cherries and spice, Tinta Barroca provides a high sugar content, floral aromatics, black cherries, plums and purple flowers, and finally the Touriga Nacional provides deep colour, structure and rich flavours of black fruit.

Ruby Port is the most basic of port styles and is generally made with a blend of red grape varieties and blends from several years. It is generally a drink now port, although there are examples of unfiltered Ruby ports that will allow some bottle aging.  This port is port is one of those unfiltered examples with the etiquette suggesting that decanting is required.  Not too sure how long it will age, but after more than a week in the bottle it was still going strong.

Anyway, what do I think of this Ruby Port:

As expected a really deep purple in colour. Plenty of fruit on the nose with spirit coming through as well. Smooth on the palate with plenty of good, juicy, concentrated, sweet fruit. Really quite sweet but the acid combined with the grape spirit gives the wine a good balance. Tannins are quite light on, as expected, which means a really easy drink exactly as a ruby port should be. I really enjoyed drinking this and in my opinion this is a lot better than your average ruby.

2005 Niepoort Vertente Tinto

Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Alcohol: 13%
Price: €19,00
Closure: Cork

In my eyes Portugal, along with Italy, is one of the most exciting wine producing countries in the world today. With the many indigenous grape varieties available at their disposal the potential is there to produce interesting, unique wines that could differentiate Portugal from many other wine producing countries.

Port, Portugal's most famous of wines, has long been the king-pin in the Douro. Over the last ten to twenty years, however, this has all been changing as consumers tastes changed from drinking Port and Sherries to table wines. The rise of a new generation of winemakers in the Douro, and Portugal as a whole, has seen many producing table wines in addition to their ports. As a result many have released a range of table wines.

Among these is van Niepoort, a wine producer of Dutch origins. Van Niepoort is run by a 5th generation Niepoort, Dirk. Over the years Dirk Niepoort has established a reputation as one of the most skilled winemakers in the Douro. While he is also a tradionalist he was one of the first in the Douro to start dabbling with table wines.

This wine, named the Vertente, is a tinto produced from a blend of Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, Tinta Amarela, Touriga Nacional and others. The vineyards producing the grapes are quite mature with vine ages ranging between 20 and 70 years. Here's what I thought of it:

Great depth of colour with the deep purple showing it's youth. The nose is powerful and shows dark berry fruit. On the palate there is plenty of fresh, dark berry along with good, dying tannins and really good acidity. The wood is nicely integrated behind the fruit. This is a wine that is more about elegance than power. Nice length on the finish. I really liked this wine though at the moment of tasting I'm unsure whether this good value at €19.00.

2005 Churchill Estates Tinto

Region: Douro
Country: Portugal
Alcohol: 13%
Price: €15,00
Closure: Cork

Churchill Estates is a relative newcomer to the world of port, having been founded by Johnny Graham in 1981.  Like many other producers in the Douro, Churchill has also started producing tables wines based on the traditional port varieties such as Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz and Touriga Franca.   This is the second of their table wines, the 2005 Churchill Estates Tinto. 

The wine is produced from the Tinto Roriz (60%) and Touriga Nacional (40%) varieties.  Tinto Roriz, also known as tempranilla in Spain (the star of Rioja) and aragonez in Portugal, has small grapes with a thick skin which produces wines of intense colour depth.  It generally produces wines with lower acid and tannin in warmer climates such as the Douro.  Touriga Nacional on the other hand is a grape producing wines with massive colour and big tannins.  The real star of the Douro, it provides structure, generally high acidity, powerful tannins and deep, powerful aromas.

Anyway here's what I thought of it:

Really great colour; deep, dense and purple.  On the nose it's powerful with red and black fruits, and gives the impression that this will be a big wine.  The palate is, however, more elegance than power and exhibits smooth, soft, sweet black fruit backed by cedar-like oak.   Fruit is fresh and grippy tannins quite elegant.  Nice black fruit finish completes a really elegant wine.   Churchill aims to produce elegant, balanced wines rather than over the top, overripe fruit bombs which is exactly what they have achieved.  Attractive and impressive wine that I definitely recommend.

2005 Campolargo Vinha Do Putto Tinto

Region: Bairrado

Country: Portugal

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: €5.95

Closure: Cork

Mention wine from Portugal and chances are people will be thinking Port. The production of quality tables wines, however, is definitely on the rise. Couple this with a wide range of indigenous grape varieties (over 500), a variety in wine regions, and in general very reasonable pricing can set Portugal apart from many other wine producing countries. In my opionion two words that can best describe Portugal as far as wine goes are exciting and individual.

Bairrado is one of the three wine regions (the other two are Douro and Dao) located in northern Portugal. Production is 80% red with the native variety Braga synonymous to the region. Of note is that the region has a huge number of growers, some 4700, with an average vineyard size of 0.2 hectare. The region was officially demarcated in 1979.

This red (Campolargo Vinha Do Putto Tinto a name that would possibly be found offensive in Spain) has been produced by Manuel dos Santos Campolargo a wine maker located in the Bairrado region. It is not made from the Braga grape, but is a blend that can comprised of some or all of: Cabernet Sauvignon, Tinto Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Syrah depending on the year. The composition is determined on a year-by-year basis. This is what I thought of it:

Deep ruby red in colour with an attractive nose of red berry fruits and some hints of tabacco. The palate is fruit forward and probably medium weight at best with the same red fruit and some savoury, green pepper elements. A dry finish completes a decent entry-level quaffer.

1995 Henriques and Henriques Single Harvest Fine Rich Madiera

Country: Portugal
Region: Madeira
Alcohol: 19%
Price: €18.00

Portugal's great claim to fame in the wine world is undoubtedly the great ports produced in the Douro valley. Lesser known, and certainly far underrated, are its other great fortifieds produced on the tiny, volcanic island of Madeira. The wine, also called Madeira, is one of the most amazing and unique wines produced in the world.

Between the 16th to the 18th century Madeira built up a reputation as wines of quality. Madeira's strategic position in the Atlantic meant that it became an important port in the trade routes between Portugal and the West African coast. Along with with sugar (cane), wine was also one of the products traded from Madeira. Pipes of Madeira (around 600 litres each) were often used as ballast in the ships. Like port, Madeira was initially a strong, unfortified wine. However, the wines were unstable and deteriorated before arriving at their destination. Merchants who knew about Port wine’s fortification with brandy decided to apply the same technique, since there was enough molasses from sugar cane plantations to ferment and distill. With the addition of the distillates madeira became stable and as many voyages proceeded through the tropics it was found that the hot weather improved the wine even further.

The mid 19th century, however, saw things change very rapidly. First, the discovery of powdery mildew in 1851 severely reduced production for around three years. Just as recovery was beginning came the phylloxera epidemic that had plagued most of the European wine regions. By the end of the 19th century, there was only 500 hectares of vineyard left as most of the island's vineyards had been ripped up and were converted to sugar cane production. In addition many vineyards that did replant choose to use American rootstock as Europe had done, as well as using hydrid varieties such as Cunningham and Jacquet which were prohibited in Madeira production.

Over this time period Madeira Madeira lost it's market share and, as quality also dropped, struggled to regain it. The wine industry in Madeira has certainly suffered with only six winemakers left from over sixty once in existence. The tide, however, is slowly turning with wine producers set on improving wine quality, and with some replanting of the noble four. Interest from the public is also slowly returning.

This wine is the single harvest from Henriques & Henriques produced from 100% Tinta Negra Mole. Tinta Negra Mole is the workhorse grape in Madeira and makes up roughly 85% of total vines planted. A cross between Grenache and Pinot Noir it is said that this grape does not produce Madeira of the same quality as that produced from the four nobles Malvasia, Sercial, Verdelho and Bual.

Here is what I thought of it:

Deep honey, gold, almost marmalade-like in colour. The nose is quite piercing with sweet toffee and caramel. On the palate its all honey, toffee, caramel along with some hints of apple. Some citrus-like freshness balances the sweetness beautifully. The finish is a little bitter burnt orange and completes with considerable heat. I have very little experience with Madeira but I found this a nice entry-level Madeira that I really enjoyed.

2004 Quinta Grande Touriga Nacional

Quinta Grande Touriga Nacional is a red wine produced from the Touriga Nacional, a grape native to Portugal. Touriga Nacional is generally considered one of Portugals best, and most expensive, wine grapes. The grape plays a big part in the production of the Port wines produced in the Douro region. The wine produced from the Touriga Nacional is generally typified by its deep colour, intense fruity aroma, and powerful tannins. This is my tasting note:

Nose: Initially kind of wacky sweet nose with sweet American oak and hints of plums and prunes. Once it opened up it was very much dark red berrys and plums.
Colour: Lovely colour; dense, deep reddish brown.
Palate: Full bodied with plum and black fruit with nicely integrated tannins. Nicely balanced.
Finish: Plums with a slightly bitter, grippy finish.
Comments: A very young wine that is nicely balanced wine and excellant value for the 6.95 it sells for.

2000 Gilberts LBV Porto

This is the Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) port produced by Gilberts, and comes in a 500 ml bottles instead of 750ml. I purchased this on a whim when I saw it on sale at the local Gall & Gall. This port has been produced by the traditional treading of feet in stone lagaeres (open topped tanks).

Here is my tasting note:

colour: deep, dense red in colour. browning slightly towards the rim of the glass.

nose: lovely big nose of sweet, jammy red fruit.

palate: full bodied and powerful. begins with smooth, spicey red fruit. acid and sweetness are nicely in balance. was a little sharp until the wine opened a little more. some fermented wood in here as well.
finish: long, sweet and smooth. a tad sharp and alcoholic towards the end.
conclusion: this is a nice LBV and good value for money.