Blend All About Wine Arquivo de Sarah Ahmed - Page 2 of 3

Drink Like a King: Moscatel de Setúbal, Península de Setúbal’s Liquid Gold

July 16, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Is there any better litmus test of what’s delicious and great value than what members of the wine trade themselves buy? Stocking up at Lisbon airport, the group of London-based sommeliers whom I lead on a tour of southern Portugal splashed their cash on Moscatel de Setúbal. I really hope that their enthusiasm translates onto their wine lists back home. While Port sells itself, this fortified Moscatel could do with more fine wining and dining ambassadors to sing its much deserved praises.

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At Decanter World Wine Awards, my panel is similarly enamoured of its charms – there’s no better way to finish a day’s judging than to linger over a moreish flight of Moscatel de Setúbal. As the gold medals we regularly award them attest (not to mention their regular spot in the limelight at the Muscat du Monde awards), they are pure gold in every sense of the word. And royalty knew it. Apparently Moscatel de Setúbal was the toast of the courts of Richard II of England and Louis XIV of France. I suspect it was rather less good value in those days, so aren’t we the lucky ones – today you can drink like a king and pay like a pauper!

You’ll find my pick of those wines I tasted on last month’s visit to Setúbal Peninsula below. First, it’s worth taking a moment to explore what makes Moscatel de Setúbal so special. The natural place to start is the raw material – the Moscatel de Setúbal grape (a.k.a. Muscat of Alexandria), which must comprise at least 67% of the wine (85% for Moscatel Roxo). Though it’s generally considered to be inferior to its more famous parent, Muscat à Petits Grains, Setúbal producers cleverly extract the maximum aroma and flavour from Moscatel de Setúbal by macerating the fermented, fortified wine on skins for up to six months. What better way to release its heady perfume of mint, floral, citrus peel and ginger; peach tea in the case of the rare pink tinted Moscatel Roxo grape.

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As for sheer deliciousness, top wines are barrel-aged to allow grape sugars to caramelise, also to concentrate the resulting nectars by evaporation. In the past, barrels were lashed to the deck of tall ships and despatched across the equator for optimum mouthfeel and character. António Soares Franco, CEO of José Maria da Fonseca, told us that, as a result of sea spray, the motion of the waves and widely fluctuating temperatures on deck, these so-called “Torna-Viagem” Moscatels are particularly balanced, soft and a little salty. I had the great good fortune to taste a 19th century example a few years ago and, though I recall no saltiness, I can vividly recall its remarkable balance and silky, mellow mouthfeel. It seemed remarkably young for all its adventures at sea!

Thrillingly, since 2000, José Maria da Fonseca have been trialling the Torna-Viagem technique with the Portuguese Navy and, as you can see, those barrels which have been at sea appear to have aged faster (the Torna-Viagem samples on the left are darker). At Bacalhôa Vinhos de Portugal, the region’s other big producer of Moscatel de Setúbal, fortified winemaker Filipa Tomaz da Costa told me that they had developed special storage conditions “to create the environment of a ship.” In other words, “with no temperature, humidity or dryness control.” During summer, the wine inside the barrels can reach up to 28ºC! Though evaporation is consequently high, Tomaz da Costa doesn’t top up the barrels because more headspace (oxygen in the barrel) in combination with the heat helps to enhance the complex, rich rancio characters of her wines; perhaps a light touch of “vinagrinho” (volatile acidity) too.

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These characters are part and parcel of Moscatel de Setúbal’s sheer deliciousness, but the very best wines are distinguished by their balance and finesse. Which is why they are sourced from the clay and limestone soils of the region’s hills, especially the cooler north-facing slopes of the Serra da Arrábida (which used to be an island many years ago). These wines are markedly fresher and more detailed than those from the region’s sandy plains.

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Adega de Pegões Moscatel de Setúbal 2012 – made from 100% Moscatel grown on sandy soils and aged in old French and American oak barrels for around 3 years. This is a lighter easy-going style with lifted buttermint, barley sugar, soft, round peachy fruit and caramelised oranges. Good perfume and freshness. 17.5%

Casa Ermelinda Freitas Moscatel de Setúbal 2010 – like the Pegões Moscatel this is from sandy soils, but it’s a good deal more complex. It’s aged for at least two years, normally four to five years in used oak barrels in a warehouse with no temperature control. And I suspect that this is what makes the difference, because it is more concentrated and complex on nose and palate, with delicious nutty rancio notes and a touch of malty oak to its caramelised orange palate; pithier maramalade notes (together with the nuttiness) balance the sweetness. Though generous, there’s good freshness to balance. Let’s just say this was particularly popular at the airport! 17.5%

José Maria da Fonseca Alambre Moscatel de Setúbal 2010 – this great value entry level Moscatel de Setúbal topped off most evenings during my holiday in the Costa Vicentina a couple of years ago. For approachability, the fruit is sourced from a sunny south-facing site and sandy as well as clay/limestone soils. Unlike some entry level wines, it was aged in old casks, which gives a delicious nutty edge to its toothsome caramelised orange palate; nice balance and length. 127g/l residual sugar; 17.5% abv.

José Maria da Fonseca Colecção Privada Moscatel de Setúbal 2004 – this wine is the direct outcome of brandy spirit trials. Winemaker Domingos Soares Franco discovered he liked using Armagnac best and Colecção Privada has lovely drive (good acidity) and persistence to its ripe, sweet citrus and rounder peach fruit. With lovely integration of spirit the finish goes on and on, revealing lightly toasted almonds, caramel, nougat and a touch of lifted (menthol) buttermint. The grapes are sourced only from clay and limestone soils. 106g/l residual sugar; 17.5% abv

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José Maria da Fonseca 20 Year Old Moscatel de Setúbal – Portugal’s oldest wine producer has a massive trump card when it comes to making concentrated and complex Moscatel de Setúbal – many back vintages of Moscatel. They are stored in the atmospheric Adega dos Teares Velhos where the oldest wines, more than 100 years old, are under lock and key! António Soares Franco tells us that the youngest wines in this 20 Year Old non-vintage blend are 21-22 yrs old, while the oldest is 60 years old. He reckons it is a blend of “perhaps 13-14 different vintages.” It shows on the long, persistent, very complex, concentrated palate which reveals sweet candied orange peel, pithier, spicier marmalade notes and a bitter (balancing) hint of marmalade which has just caught in the pan. Very refined, with a lively, grapefruity cut of balancing acidity to the finish. 182g/l of residual sugar; 18.4% abv

José Maria da Fonseca Roxo 20 Year Old Moscatel de Setúbal – made from the much rarer pink-tinted Moscatel Roxo this is a significantly deeper hue than its predecessor and, despite having quite a bit more residual sugar, seems fresher, drier (well less toothsome) and lighter on its feet. Sweet, sharp but exotic flavours of mandarin, pink grapefruit and peach tea mingle in the mouth; great line and length. My pick of the JMF four (though I should declare that I’m a huge Roxo fan). 217.8g/l residual sugar; 18% abv.

SIVIPA Moscatel de Setúbal 1996 – from clay/limestone soils, this wine was aged for around 10 years in old French oak barrels. It is a complex, concentrated wine, just a touch spirity on the finish but mellifluous going through, with syrupy, peachy fruit, more concentrated dried apricot, toasted almonds and caramel. 180g/l residual sugar; 17% abv

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Horácio Simões Roxo Moscatel de Setúbal 2009

Casa Agrícola Horácio Simões Roxo Moscatel de Setúbal 2009 – I’m a big fan of Horácio Simões, a boutique third generation family producer. This long lingering Roxo shows why. Silkily textured with richly concentrated caramelised oranges and peach tea, it shows a hint of malty wood and delicious creamy praline notes to the finish (it is aged in seasoned French oak barriques). Terrific generosity and mouthfeel with balance.

Bacalhôa Vinhos de Portugal Moscatel Roxo Superior 2002 – my panel at Decanter World Wine Awards awarded this gorgeous Roxo a Gold Medal and Regional Trophy. I’d have awarded it the regional trophy all over again in this line up! Grapes are sourced from the cooler north clay/limestone slopes of the Serra da Arrábida. Still, aged for at least 10 years in small 200l French oak whisky barrels (which benefit from really clean pores) and in ship-like conditions with great thermal variation, it has surprising freshness, purity and lift. Referring to “the shocks of temperature, evaporation and concentration of acid and sugar and release of aromas connected with sugar,” Chief Winemaker Vasco Penha Garcia observes “it’s incredible when you age wines in these conditions that they get fresher, more floral.” Sure enough, Bacalhôa Roxo Superior 2002 has great intensity, lift and layer with rose water, buttermint and peach tea aromatics which follow through in the mouth together with a lovely purity of caramelised oranges, juicy mandarin, pink grapefruit peel and delicately toasted almonds and richer marzipan notes. Though luscious, it’s very persistent (good acid drive) and fine, the finish controlled, very balanced. 190.2g/l residual sugar; 19%.

Veni, Vidigueira, Vici: The Wines of Paulo Laureano

June 25, 2015 1 comment in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

When I showed them this photo, I’m not sure if my sommelier group was relieved or disappointed not to meet the owner of the Portuguese wine industry’s best curated moustache, Paulo Laureano. As one drily observed, “he looks shy.” In fact a little unhinged in this picture, though this is far from the truth – I can assure you Paulo Laureano is as poised as his wines or indeed the waxed tips of his moustache!

He could not personally show us his wines since the winemaker was in Brazil looking after his markets. But, when it comes to those made under his own label (he consults widely), his focus is squarely on home. Not just on native Portuguese grape varieties (including world’s only single varietal Tinta Grossa red), but also the region in which he was born, Alentejo.

Owing to this warm, dry, southerly region’s popularity with supermarket buyers, Alentejo is best known in the UK for soft, approachable, fruity (jammy even) reds. It is most definitely not known for its whites. So it came as something as a surprise for my group to discover that Alentejo’s southern-most DOC sub-region, Vidigueira, can produce such restrained reds and whites – the perfect foil for the fine dining experience their restaurants offer at London’s The Ritz, Gordon Ramsey’s Maze, Butler’s Wharf Chop House and Yauatcha, as well as Nuno Mende’s new Portuguese-focused small plates dining experience, Taberna do Mercado where I shall be presenting Alentejo wines to the trade next month.

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How has Laureano conquered white winemaking so far south? When I first met Laureano several years ago he explained that, despite its location, Vidigueira’s special micro-climate accounts for this restraint and structure. Moisture levels are higher and the climate more temperate than you might think because, owing to its topography, Atlantic breezes still manage to wend their way some 60km inland. What’s more, Vidigueira benefits from higher rainfall because of the Serra do Mendro, from which cold air descends at night, cooling the vineyards. The cherry on the cake is the schist soils which characterise so many top Alentejo wines. Why? First, because these lean, rocky soils offer little in the way of nutrients to the vines, which keeps yields low. Second, because schist has the capacity to store and slowly “meter” water to vines (just like in the Douro). Now you know why Vidigueira has a history of white winemaking.

Here are my notes on Laureano’s wines which, I might add, I found fresher and more precise (especially the whites) than in the past. Partly down to earlier picking I am told.

Paulo Laureano Premium Vinhas Velhas White 2014 (DOC Vidigueira, Alentejo)

When I visited Alentejo this month, there was a lot of excitement about 2014 whites. This silver medal winner at Decanter World Wine Awards 2015 demonstrates why. Only part-fermented and aged in (French) oak for four months, the emphasis is on fruit and freshness. The acidity is a good counterfoil to its ripe, tropical-tinged citrus fruit (pink grapefruit, mandarin) and dried pear. Incidentally, Vinhas Velhas – old vines – means around forty years old here. 13.5%

Paulo Laureano Dolium Escolha White 2014 (DOC Vidigueira, Alentejo)

Dolium focuses on Vidigueira’s traditional lead white grape variety, Antão Vaz, which was aged for six months in French oak. While it shares the pink grapefruit, mandarin and dried pear of the Vinhas Velhas, this wine is more concentrated, pithily textural, structured and complex with nutty oak and mineral nuances. Poised, with a very well balanced, long finish. 13%

Paulo Laureano Premium Vinhas Velhas 2013 (DOC Vidigueira, Alentejo)

This deeply coloured blend of Aragonês, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet reveals juicy blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with savoury, leafy tobacco and raddichio notes. Dusty, schistous minerality lends freshness and nuance to the finish. Tannins (fine) and acidity (fresh) are very well balanced.

Paulo Laureano Selectio Tinta Grossa 2011 (DOC Vidigueira, Alentejo)

According to Paulo Laureano’s Brand Manager Diana Silva, there are only five hectares of Tinta Grossa worldwide, of which Paulo Laureano has three. Probably because it’s a low yielder and a bit of a tricky customer in the vineyard. This wine has only been made in 2008, 2011 and 2012. The grapes are small and thick skinned, which is readily apparent in the tannin structure of this inky wine and the fact that it mops up its new French oak with ease. The nose puts me in mind of Lagrein (a northern Italian red grape/wine), with its bitter chocolate, violets, sour cherry/plum, balsamic and raddichio notes. Notes which follow through on the palate, together with rhubarb, wild brambly fruit, lavender, membrillo/beeswax, clove, cassia bark and Bassatt’s Liquorice Allsorts jelly spog aniseed notes. The tannins are sinewy and a little rustic in a good way and it finishes firm, dry and savoury. A very complex, individual wine. Silva recommends it pairing it with Carne de Porco à Alentejana – pork and clams with fried potatoes (it cuts through the fat).14%

Paulo Laureano Dolium Reserva Red 2012 (DOC Vidigueira, Alentejo)

This Trincadeira-led (70%) blend (with Aragonês and Alicante Bouschet)is matured in French and American oak for 18 months, It has a mocha edge to its dark but juicy fresh picked berry, currant and sloe fruit with hints of clove. Like the other reds there’s not an iota of jamminess. Nice length and balance, wih fine tannins.

Contacts
Monte Novo da Lisboa
Selmes- Vidigueira
7960-909
Tel: (+351) 284 240 991
Fax: (+351) 284 437 069
E-mail: geral@paulolaureano.com
Website: www.paulolaureano.com

The Gold Seekers: Portuguese Wine Under The Microscope

June 11, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

Since 2011, it has been my great privilege to Chair the Portugal panel at Decanter World Wine Awards (“DWWA”), which lays claim to being the world’s largest and most influential wine competition. There were over 16,000 entries this year, 730 from Portugal (excluding Port and Madeira); you can catch up with the results on Decanter’s website on 14 June.

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Judged by experts in their field, each year my distinguished panel includes key opinion formers and fellow champions of Portuguese wines. This year, I took the opportunity to sound out their views on how Portuguese wine is performing in their market (principally the UK, which is widely regarded as a shop window for the world). My contributions come from:

Danny Cameron, Director of UK-based specialist Portuguese importer Raymond Reynolds, who work with some of the best known premium producers in the business.
Nick Oakley, founder of UK-based specialist Portuguese importer Oakley Wine Agencies, who have counted almost all of the multiple supermarkets as clients.
Jo Locke, Master of Wine and Portugal buyer at UK mail order/online retailer The Wine Society, who have most deservedly received multiple awards for their Portuguese list.
Anne Forrest, former Portugal buyer for Direct Wines now Oporto-based Director at Vinos Sin Fronteras, Lda, a specialist wine export and consultancy business.
Claudio Martins, UK-based former sommelier/Manager, New Street Wine Shop, now Wine Director, Montevino Partners Wine Merchants.
Madeleine Stenwreth Master of Wine, Swedish-based freelance wine consultant specialising in product development, blending, quality and style strategy.

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Have you noticed an increase in the sales, quality and range of Portuguese wines and, if so, what?

Danny Cameron: In the UK, I see the sales’ sweet spot in retail between £8 and £15. Since the lovely Lehmann Bros did their thing [the global financial crisis], the market for high end Portugal has struggled, even for some of the iconic labels. This suggests that Portugal is not yet fully trusted by these potential consumers, who in recessions typically default to what they consider safe choices.

Nick Oakley: Yes, plenty. We are aiming for 20% growth in volume, even more in value. We are on target after 4 months.

Jo Locke MW: Yes, we have seen an increase in sales, largely due to increased focus on the region (dedicated sales activity and greater presence in standard mailings), but also thanks to now regular tastings of Portuguese wines.

Anne Forrest: We have certainly noticed an increase in sales in the last year, particularly with a marked growth in the fortified sector of ‘special categories’ ie. not just basic Ruby, Tawny, White Port. There is a lot of interest from small and large retailers alike in finding something really special which delivers the ‘wow’ factor to customers when they have the first sip. Aged Colheitas, Tawnies and Moscatel de Setubal have been proving surprisingly popular. We have also noticed growth in Vinho Verde and wines labelled by single varietal or leading strongly with the region on the label.

Claudio Martins: There is a new wave of Portuguese wines in the UK for sure, wine lists in restaurants are increasing their offers with wines from Minho, Douro, Alentejo and some Dão wines with a different price category which is great. The consumer is more aware of Portuguese wines nowadays.

Madeleine Stenwreth MW: Quality is constantly improving; the trade knows it, but consumers still have to be even more convinced that they can trust the origin before they fully dare to go down that route. It’s not easy to grab the consumers’ attention unless the wines are sold under a well-respected/well-known brand, possibly even signed off by the winemaker (João Portugal Ramos being a case in point) to create that trust that Portugal still needs to build. Wines are constantly launched but there is no real staying power on the shelf. The category is too fragmented and complicated for consumers to get their head around what you can expect from the different regions. This means consumers need a trusted brand to hang on to. I think there is a problem with too many names that say nothing to the consumers.

Which categories of Portuguese wine (by style, region, variety) are proving most popular with consumers?

Danny Cameron: In marketing terms, the regions who have invested more or less in promoting their region seem to be yielding results.

Nick Oakley: Dão, Douro and Vinho Verde (new wave single varietal). The Dão has been particularly successful in all categories – independents, supermarkets, online and on trade/restaurants (via wholesalers). For Vinho Verde, single varietals Arinto and Avesso have been successful so far, joining Alvarinho. There’s no reason that Loureiro should not join them.

Jo Locke MW: Vinho Verde is the current star, at all price levels.

Anne Forrest: Dão is selling really well at the moment with both red and white blends proving popular. As a region, Dão seems to be gaining more and more traction as styles are quite consistent across brands and customers are confident to make repeat purchases as they know they will like what they get in the bottle. It also offers good value for money and just enough complexity to keep customers intrigued and wanting more.

Claudio Martins: Wines from Minho for sure and Douro reds are still pretty much the demand of the normal clientele in a wine shop or restaurant.

Madeleine Stenwreth MW: Reds of commercial quality with obvious fruit concentration yet with attractive soft, rounded tannins and drinkability with or without being accompanied by food.

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Which categories (by style, region, variety) most impress you; where do you expect to see further growth?

Nick Oakley: For me Dão is the biggest story, and my favourite area. One extra is that we have developed a ‘Californian lookalikey red’, with 14 grams of sugar, in the style of Apothik. It’s called Wolf & Falcon and it’s been developed by Laithwaites. Here I think it is wine style and branding that have won out over provenance.

Jo Locke MW: VinhoVerde has further potential; Dão seems to be under represented and could and should do more.

Anne Forrest: Alentejo is the region which has most impressed me this year. This is the region that the Portuguese love to drink from and it seems to have a great emotional pull for Portuguese customers choosing wine to drink at home or in restaurants. There is a lot of competition on the domestic market with many up and coming brands / wineries which are fighting to establish themselves and this is driving the quality upwards. Alentejo is starting to gain reputation abroad and I think it will eventually come to be viewed as ‘a safe bet’ by customers in the UK and elsewhere with a small number of really top producers leading the way.

Claudio Martins: Dão wines have so much to offer and the Touriga Nacional in the region has what UK clients are looking for. I expect to see more growth in Lisbon wines – if they do a good marketing campaign for the UK market I believe people will start to recognise the wines.

Madeleine Stenwreth MW: Well-made reds with a flirty commercial edge while maintaining a purity and honesty of fruit. The Douro has come so far. Alentejo has dared to move away from having been overripe, clumsy and over-oaked with issues of dying young in bottle. At the top end, a very few have understood that you can come a very long way with elegance without being lean. As for whites, the highs at DWWA were definitely some of the whites [watch out for the DWWA results]. World class stuff!

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Where do you think there is scope for improvement?

Danny Cameron: I think the overall quality of packaging of Portuguese wines is 100% better than a few years ago. But the country is still short of potentially major brands which can perform in the UK market.

Nick Oakley: tannin management in the south. Labelling by appellation, rather than brand (like in France). This is working in the Dão. At the moment you have thousands of brands trying to get noticed and no-one succeeding. Let’s label Dão as Dão and Douro as Douro, forget the branding – or at least diminish its importance. Only this way will the buying public get to know the wines.

Jo Locke MW: Corks are the number one issue by far. How is it that Portugal produces so much yet reserves the worst for itself? The number of top wines with poor corks is shocking and does nothing for her reputation. Rosé is not taken seriously but I see no reason why Portugal could not produce lots of good examples. For us the good dry rosé market is still dominated by the south of France and need not be. Oh, and the small issue of self-belief!!

Anne Forrest: A little bit more self belief would go a long way I think! The producers who are really getting out there, not taking a back seat, meeting customers, finding out about the markets and actively promoting their wines are finding routes to market. I think Portugal is on the right track so let’s just have more of the same please!!

Claudio Martins: Marketing actions, consumer tastings, consumer tastings, consumer tastings, it’s the only way to get Portugal on the map for UK consumers, the trade knows already the potential of the wines and the quality but the consumer needs to ask for it.

Madeleine Stenwreth MW: Design is so important and this together with good wine and continued generic educational efforts will help Portugal progress in the right direction. João Portugal.Ramos is an example of constantly working on improving quality and style, very alert on packaging upgrade to keep the consumer happy and never disappoints. Consistency is key for long term shelf life.

To conclude, fellow writer Jane MacQuitty joined my panel for one day again this year; she has been the wine and drink correspondent for The Times since the 1980s. This is what she had to say, “[A]s you know, I am a big fan of Portuguese wine, but I still feel that the country is the dark horse of Europe with bags of potential in the shape of oodles of indigenous grape varieties, plenty of unique regional and other wine styles. Vinho Verde is I think tip for the top, but I feel that the Dao both white and red will produce lots of wow wines in the future. All in all, Portugal just needs to hurry up and join the 21st Century.”

Poças: A New Era of Douro Wines With a Little Je Sais Quoi

May 28, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

Port is so emblematic of Portugal that it’s hard to believe that Poças Junior one of only a handful of Port Houses which has remained in the same family (and for that matter, Portuguese ownership) since it was founded nearly a century ago by Manuel Domingues Poças Junior. When I met with Chief Viticulturist Maria Manuel Poças Maia, she left me in no doubt that her generation – the fourth – are absolutely determined to keep it that way.

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Which is not to say that they are stick in the muds. Far from it. I hadn’t realised until my visit earlier this month that Poças was among the first wave of Port producers to embrace Douro (table) wine at the outset of the modern era in 1990. The trigger? Maia’s cousin, Chief Winemaker Jorge Manuel Pintão, had just joined the business fresh from his oenology degree in Bordeaux and an internship at Château Giscours in this famous French region. She explained, “he wanted to make here what he had learned in Bordeaux and knew that the Douro had potential for good dry wines.”

Of course Pintão was not the first Douro winemaker to take inspiration from Bordeaux. Fernando Nicolau de Almeida, creator of Barca Velha, claims that distinction. But thanks to Pintão’s continuing relationship with the prestigious French region (Maia says “he never lost contact with Bordeaux”), Poças has now gone a step further. Last year, the company secured the services of Bordeaux winemaker and consultant Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, owner of the acclaimed Château Angélus, in Saint-Emilion. Together with Philippe Nunes of Hubert Boüard Consulting (who, coincidentally, is of Portuguese parentage) the Bordelais duo helped craft Poças’ 2014 Douro wines.

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With 25 years under its belt, Poças is among the Douro’s most experienced Douro wine producers. I asked Maia why the family felt the need to hire a consultant. Her reply is candid – “nowadays, the market is difficult and we wanted to expand our markets for table wine. We are growing in terms of Port but want to see the same growth in Douro wines which are starting to be very known, but still need to be more known by people.” In other words it’s not just about “someone from outside the company giving us new ideas to have an evolution,” but also about the profile which Hubert Boüard Consulting brings. As she freely admits, “being from France, the status is important….Our work with Bordeaux is adding value in bottle of course, but in perception too.”

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Still, Maia is quick to emphasise “they [Hubert Boüard Consulting] are helping us to grow our image of wines and styles, but always without forgetting that we want to use Portuguese varieties and keep the heritage of our grapes and terroir.” The family were delighted that, given the consultancy’s experience of wines from around the world, “there is huge respect for what they found here in the Douro.” If, before coming, Maia thought Boüard had “a bit of doubt” about the old vineyards, it was dispelled when he first visited Santa Barbara [Poças’ vineyard in Caêdo, the Cima Corgo] and saw the old vines and schist. Glowing with pride the viticulturist who, at the tender age of 23, assumed responsibility for the family’s three quintas in 2005 reports, “he said ‘this is terroir’ and was really convinced he could do a very good wine.”

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Before I tasted samples of the new, improved 2014 wines (none yet released, the reds unfinished), we discussed what changes have been introduced following the appointment of Hubert Boüard Consulting. Describing them as “slight refinements,” Maia explained that the overall aim was “to make a more international style – a lighter perception of Douro wines because Douro wines are seen as very tannic, very strong and difficult to drink.” In the vineyard this pursuit of elegance, especially more refined tannins, has involved tweaks to fruit sourcing. Grapes now come from riper parcels and Boüard has introduced a younger vine (15 year old) Touriga Nacional component to the predominantly old field blend flagship red Simbolo.

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In the winery, changes have included different press settings (for the unoaked white) and different yeast and oak selections. The reds are no longer aged in a combination of American and French oak. From 2014 they were aged in 100% French oak barriques using different coopers or the same cooper as before but different woods. Where the Bordelais are renowned for their blending skills, the premium wines are now made in a new location with more space “to have opportunity to try several [blending] options.”

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Obviously, it is very early days to reach any definitive conclusions about this Douro/Bordelais relationship, or the 2014 wines. However, having compared Poças Coroa d’Ouro white and unfinished (barrel) samples of both reds Vale de Cavalos and Simbolo with earlier vintages (the 2013, 2011 and 2007 respectively), I suspect Poças will not only be celebrating their centenary in 2018 but also a sound return on their investment. Despite their youth, all three wines displayed greater refinement to the finish; the improved length of the white and tannin quality of the reds was especially striking. The 2007 Simbolo tasted fully mature and more developed than expected; rather drying tannins were already starting to out-pace the fruit. On the other hand, Simbolo 2014 impressed with its fine, fluent tannins. The sample I tasted was vibrant, perfumed, and mineral with a very long, elegant finish. Showing great potential, I reckon it will deliver more pleasure and for longer than the 2007. It’s a testament to the winemaking when 2007 was a highly acclaimed (classic vintage Port) year and 2014 was much trickier, with intermittent rainfall at harvest. I look forward to tasting the finished article.

While, with a touch of je sais [Hubert Boüard Consulting] quoi Poças’ range of 2014 Douro wines may be new, improved and higher profile, some things don’t change. I’m told Poças intend to maintain the family’s tradition of focusing on a good relationship between cost and value (the current release of Simbolo retails for £30-35/bottle). As Maia puts it, “we are about quality not quantity but without having unreachable prices.” I’ll drink to that!

Contacts
Manoel D. Poças Junior – Vinhos, S.A
Rua Visconde das Devesas 186
4401 – 337 Vila Nova de Gaia
Portugal
Tel.: (+ 351) 223 771 070
Website: www.pocas.pt

Back to the Thirties With The House of Tawnies

May 14, 2015 1 comment in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

The Big Fortified Tasting is the largest wine fair in the world exclusively dedicated to fortified wines. It’s also one of my favourite tastings of the year, not least because wood-aged fortifieds – vinous works of time – are amongst the most delicious, complex wines on earth. So I jumped at the chance to attend the “House of Tawnies” Masterclass in which Sogevinus turned back the clock to the 1930s. It may have been the depression era but, from a Port perspective, there was much to celebrate as we tasted Colheita (single vintage Tawny) Ports from 1935, 1937 and 1938!

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Leaving aside the evident quality of these Ports, the self-styled “House of Tawnies” moniker is no idle boast. When Sogevinus acquired Kopke, Burmester, Barros and Cálem a decade ago, it took possession of Portugal’s largest stock of Colheitas (single vintage tawnies) – the group has 17 million litres of Tawny Port according to Chief Winemaker Carlos Alves. What’s more, since Colheitas are bottled to order, they remain in wood for very much longer than the legal minimum of seven years. It was quite remarkable to think that we were tasting wines which had spent up to 80 years in wood! All four Colheitas had only been bottled a fortnight beforehand.

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It’s a longevity which relies on both a mastery of grape sourcing and the caretaking of these fine rare Ports during their long spell in wood. Alves explains, not only must the grapes have the structure to age, they must also fit with the house style. He assesses this in the vineyards each year at harvest; grapes for the Colheitas are the first to be allocated where this category is so emblematic for the company.

For Kopke, Colheitas have been sourced from the middle and upper slopes of Quinta S. Luiz near Pinhão in the Cima Corgo since the 1920s. Rising to 600m, it provides the acidity for Kopke’s very structured, intense style. When Barros acquired Kopke in 1952, it also looked to Quinta S. Luiz for grapes but, this time, grapes with a higher sugar content are selected from two lower, hotter parcels within the vineyard near the river. They are better suited to this house’s richer Ports.

As for looking after the Ports during their time in wood, Alves has a dedicated team of two because “they need to know the wines to work them well.” He adds, they are very careful to ensure that the pipas, toneis and casks remain linked to the same house “because the wood – size and type of wood – really gives profile to the house.” For example with the greatest variety of casks, Cálem has a tradition of ageing in exotic hard wood.

At least once a year, Alves and his team transfer Colheitas from their individual 550 litre pipa (Port barrel) to a large cask in order to adjust the spirit (a neutral brandy spirit which evaporates over time) and maintain the requisite level of alcohol (the spirit integrates much better when done on a larger scale in cask). Airing the Ports in this way together with cleaning the pipas before the Ports are returned to them also explains why the 30s’ Colheitas – the oldest wines which the company has for sale – retained such admirable freshness. Here are my tasting notes:

Kopke Porto Branco 1935

Established in 1638 by Christiano Kopke and his son Nicolau, Kopke is the oldest Port wine export firm. In 1953, it was acquired by the Barros family in whose family it remained until 2006 when it was acquired by Sogevinus. With around 45g/l residual sugar, this rare pale amber example of a Colheita made from white grapes is drier in style than Kopke’s Tawny Colheita made from red grapes. It has a firmer, more focused yet restrained nose and palate with a distinctive ozone/sea spray note and a fino-like nuttiness – lighter and less sweet than the nuttiness which I associate with tawnies. And perhaps because it has less extract and residual sugar, its freshness is particularly marked. From a highly regarded Douro vintage it has a striking intensity of perfumed orange peel, orange and apple eau-de-vie and hints of spicy aniseed to the long, clean finish.

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Kopke Porto Colheita 1935

Deep amber with a saffron rim. With its orange and grapefruit peel notes to the nose, it has a palpable sense of freshness – an edginess. But there’s a richness too, which puts me in mind of yolky Madeleine biscuits. In the mouth it has terrific energy. A nutty spine brings length and tension, grapefruit and orange peel lift add spice, while a touch of “vinagrinho”/ fruit chutney makes for a tangy counterpoint to its sweet and mellow dried fig. A long, very resonating finish has lovely timbre. Fabulously complex and characterful.

Burmester Porto Colheita 1937

Henry Burmester and John Nash began shipping Port wine to the British Isles following their arrival in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1750. The Port house remained in the Burmester family until 2005 when it was acquired by Sogevinus. Though dark toffee coloured in hue, this is an exceptionally silky Colheita, very different in mouthfeel (and apparent sweetness) from the Kopke. It seems much younger, so seamless and harmoniously fruity is its salt caramel edged palate. Alves describes it as “a box of perfume” because of its aromatics. It delivers tamarind, sweet cinnamon and black cardamom spice to its dried and tangier apricot chutney fruit. Rich but beautifully balanced, it has great poise and persistence to the café crème tobacco accented finish. Mellifluous, very elegant.

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Barros Porto Colheita 1938

Barros was established in 1913 by Manoel de Almeida and acquired by Sogenvinus in 2006. From a hot year, the Barros is a deep tawny hue with saffron and olive to the rim. It’s a little spirity on the nose with a hint of walnut which, though the converse is true, would suggest it is the older of the Tawny Colheitas. In the mouth, it is more toothsomely sweet with medjool dates, crème caramel, salt caramel and nougat to the mid-palate. However, the finish shows a trace of dustiness and bitter walnut – it’s drying out a little. It’s not as harmonious as the others.

My favourite? I find it hard to choose between the Kopke and the Burmester – they’re such different styles, as it should be. On balance, the Kopke is the more ethereal of the two – I loved its energy, tension and lift. But the Burmester’s silky balance won most votes on the day.

Should you wish to do your own Burmester v Kopke challenge, why not join me on Blend All About Wine’s trip to Oporto, Vinho Verde and the Douro next month? We’ll be pitting Kopke’s and Burmester’s 20 Year Old Tawny and White Ports against each other before finishing up with two Colheitas from Kopke from 1966 and, a favourite, the 1957 – one of my top Port picks in my December article for wine-searcher. Happy days!

Contacts
Sogevinus Fine Wines, S.A.
Avenida Diogo Leite nº 344
4400-111 Vila Nova de Gaia
Tel: +351 22 3746660
Fax: +351 22 3746699
E-mail: comercial@sogevinus.com
Website: www.sogevinus.com

Olho no Pé: To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before

April 30, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

In my last post about the Douro I urged you to “seek and ye shall find,” for no other Portuguese region can surely boast such a rich diversity of terroir? In fact, look hard enough and you can even unearth sweet wines in the Douro. I’m not talking Port, of course, but late harvest and botrytis influenced dessert wines, as in no (brandy) spirit required.

The addition of brandy spirit stops the fermentation process that transforms grape sugars into alcohol, which explains why fortified wines like Port and Moscatel do Douro are sweet. Unfortified sweet wines, on the other hand, simply rely on having super-high sugar levels. Leave the grapes on the vine for long enough and, being dry and sunny, the Douro will lavish you with sugar. So why don’t we see more unfortified Douro sweeties?

The answer lies in the fact that a great dessert winemaker must be the consummate tightrope walker of sugar and acid balance.

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Tightrope Walker in unbornmind.com

As grape sugars rise, grape acidity decreases. If the acidity is too low, the resulting wine will taste too sweet or, worse, flabby. Great dessert wines need both high sugar and high acidity. Not an easy combination in a hot, dry climate.

It’s why the handful of Douro sweeties I’ve encountered hail from elevated vineyards. And they can be mighty impressive. Take Rozès Noble Late Harvest 2009, which my panel awarded a Gold Medal and Sweet Wine Trophy at Decanter World Wine Awards 2011 or Quinta do Portal Late Harvest 2007, one of my 50 Great Portuguese Wines 2010.The more elevated the vineyard, the more elevated the acidity because, at altitude, temperatures drop markedly, especially at night-time. Add morning fog and humidity into the mix and you have the perfect conditions for botrytis to take hold. Rather improbably, this mold produces the most magical sweet wines not only because it concentrates both sweetness and acidity, but also because it produces a honeyed, often floral (camomile or saffron), complexity. No wonder it’s also called noble rot!

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My latest dessert wine finds are made by Tiago Sampaio of Olho no Pé. Describing himself as “a one man show,” Sampaio’s curiosity about wine was triggered by his grandfather who first introduced a young Sampaio to the Douro’s vineyards and world of wine. But I suspect that the young winemaker’s dessert wine friendly focus on freshness results from his five years in Oregon (where he obtained a PhD in Viticulture and Enology). It certainly accounts for the pale but promising Pinot Noirs in his portfolio – the delicate Burgundian variety benefits from Oregon’s crisp, cool nights. Sampaio founded Olho no Pé after he returned to the Douro from the United States in 2007. The dessert wines which he showed me at Simplesmente Vinho earlier this year are both made from old field blend vines (70 years old plus) with a high proportion of Gouveio located in Alijó at 600 metres above sea level. Because of its elevation, like Favaios, the municipality is traditionally famous for its fresh, delicate Moscatel do Douro and, increasingly, for dry white wines. Here are my notes on Sampaio’s delicious sweeties:

Olho no Pé Colheita Tardia/Late Harvest

2011 (Douro)

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Sampaio has a very delicate touch. Handpicked grapes are picked in successive, highly selective harvests and, chock full of sugar (this wine has around 200g/l of residual sugar), it was naturally fermented very slowly. As it slowly transformed from grape juice to wine, complex aromas and flavours were unlocked – saffron spice, crystallised ginger, camomile and poached pears. Silky of texture, very fresh and pure, the wine was aged on fine lees in mature oak barrels which really let the fruit speak. Super-pretty with a beguiling, un-worked quality. 11%

Olho no Pé 2011 (Vinho, Portugal)

If I exaggerate, it’s only a little (for the Douro at any rate), but I reckon this yet-to-be- named cuvee boldly goes where none have gone before. It is the product of the most concentrated, botrytised grapes of 2011 (and, for that matter, all the vintages Sampaio has ever worked). Just two barrels were made which, with double the amount of residual sugar (400g/l) took much, much longer to ferment – two years! At 7% abv it is below the minimum level of alcohol for DOC Douro or VR Duriense classification, yet has the same tell tale saffron signature of botrytis as the Late Harvest wine – lovely lift and purity too. A satiny palate reveals delicate barley sugar, spun sugar and brighter, tighter, more focused fresh apple close to the core, giving it a welcome trace of balancing bitterness and bite. Toothsome yet fresh, concentrated yet with a levity, this sweet essence of grapes lingers long in the mouth and memory. An experience!

Contacts
Tiago Sampaio
Rua António Cândido, 7
5070-029 Alijó, Portugal
Mobile: (+351) 960 487 850
E-mail: info@foliasdebaco.com
Website: www.foliasdebaco.com

Blend, All About Wine: Chaos Theory & The New Douro Symposium

April 16, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

One of my favourite varietal anecdotes concerns Cabernet Sauvignon about which Californian winemaker Sean Thackrey memorably intoned, “I wouldn’t want to sit next to it at a dinner party; too damn polite!” Sure enough, this iconic Bordeaux variety is to grapes what pinstripe is to suits – it emanates poise, sophistication, power and control.

In case you are wondering how this has any connection to the Douro, stick with me. In fact, cast your mind back to my February post about a Chyseia vertical with Bruno Prats when I reported how the renowned Bordelais winemaker, a born and bred Cabernet man, exerts a high degree of control over his raw material. Prats professed only to find Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca “interesting” and stated a clear preference for (single varietal) block planted vineyards over the Douro’s traditional varietally mixed field blend vineyards. Why? So he could “be sure to pick at the right time.”

Cristiano Van Zeller in didu.com.br

The ‘right time’ is a topic in its own right (fellow writer Andrew Jefford explores it here) but, speaking at the annual New Douro tasting in London, Quinta Vale D. Maria’s Cristiano van Zeller begged to differ about the extent to which it is necessary to exercise control over the Douro’s natural assets. Reflecting on the Portuguese character – one which has “liked chaos for a long, long time” – he asserted “we have to make use of our character – a little bit of chaos. We don’t have to control everything. A little surprise every year, that’s what we have been trying to do in the Douro.” Referring to grape varieties, he pointed out “plantings are very different from elsewhere in the world…it’s very difficult for any one grape to really express what the Douro is and what it has to say, so farmers try to find the Douro’s character by adding one to the other.”

There’s a local secret too. Van Zeller revealed, “if you plant by block, grapes have very different ripening dates but, when grapes are all mixed in one single field reasonably randomly, you find that differences in maturity between earliest and latest ripening are much reduced – maybe just three or four days.” The icing on the cake is that field blends necessarily involve a co-fermentation of different grape varieties, a process which The Fladgate Partnership’s David Guimaraens has observed “brings greater dimension of flavour and balance.” It is why he now favours a half way house for new plantings – micro-plots of one variety (just a few rows), which can be cross-picked with other micro-plots of different varieties and co-fermented (you can read his take on the evolution away from and back towards a more mixed varietal approach here.

This new approach might be described as organised chaos but, when van Zeller went on to reveal that old field blend vineyards’ varietal composition is adapted to different terroirs, it would seem that there has always been method in the apparent madness. For example, he reported that the Torto Valley has around 7-8% Rufete, while the Pinhão Valley has more Sousão; Tinta Francisca has always been important at Quinta do Roriz.

For David Baverstock of Quinta das Murças who opened last month’s New Douro Symposium, organised chaos sums up life in the Douro well. He explained the region’s challenges are “what drives us as winemakers – to try and control things as much as possible but knowing that in the end we have to just ‘go with the flow.’ Apart from the field blends and mountainous topography, the weather also plays a big part in any given vintage.”

David Baverstock in blog.esporao.com

The Douro’s diverse terroir was the headline topic for the symposium and, of the four speakers, Baverstock was ideally placed to speak to the progress which has been made navigating it since the 1990s when he left the region for Esporão in Alentejo. He told me “[I]t has changed out of sight. It was very easy back in the early 1990s, there was really no competition back then. Barca Velha was recognized as a great wine but only rarely released. Dirk and Cristiano were only just getting started, Duas Quintas likewise, it was easy to move ahead with projects like La Rosa and Crasto. Now the level of winemaking, quality of wines and understanding of the potential of the Douro with its different meso and micro climates has reached an incredibly high level.”

Drilling down to the topic of soil type, Baverstock talked about the important role of schist in the Douro. Apparently, the Douro is one of the very few regions where the schist is vertically oriented, which allows vine roots to go into the soil between plates of rock. Given the Douro’s limited rainfall, this combined with the friability of schist allows the vines to dig “very deeply” into the soil. Top sites might allow the roots to go down 10 metres or so, which helps vines get through the difficult (hot, dry) growing season. Conversely, schist (especially on steep slopes) is well-drained, which means that vines never get water-logged. Schist is also advantageous because, in a constant state of decomposition, it yields up the trace elements which vines need to survive.

The Douro’s vine roots may go deep down but, as for producers, Paul Symington of Symington Family Estates confessed “we are only beginning to scratch surface of what the real story is in the Douro.” Contrasting it with Bordeaux’s fairly homogenous terroir, he described the Douro “as the most diverse wine region of the great wine regions on earth.” The cornerstones of this diversity? Symington rattled through a long list of factors which impact on wine styles, including a surprisingly wide range of differences in rainfall and temperature depending on location, elevation and aspect. Where “vineyards face each point of the compass,” even within one vineyard, the Symingtons harvest grapes into colour-coded boxes according to aspect. Soil pH across the Douro is very different too, which impacts on a vine’s ability to absorb up trace minerals (it is impaired if soils are very acidic).

Paul Symington in symington.com

Van Zeller’s talk focused on the Douro’s great diversity of grapes and the trend back towards high density mixed varietal plantings, whether Guimaraens’ micro-plots or his own new blast from the past plantings at Quinta Vale D. Maria. “I am mixing it all,” he said, where he has come to understand that quality and character derive not from vine age per se, but from having a varietally mixed vineyard and co-fermenting the grapes (though Dirk Niepoort asserted his belief that an old vineyards “speaks much more loudly” about terroir than variety). Working with a range of varieties is also advantageous where, he pointed out “not every variety is attacked by same disease at the same time or has the same production, so one way or another you can guarantee a certain capacity and the ability to produce excellence most of the time.”

Niepoort’s Dirk Niepoort concluded the symposium by emphasising that “New” in “New Douro” refers to the fact that, until recently, producers only thought about Port – “we all know which are the best vineyards and areas for Port, but something new happened, a different priority and we have to look at the Douro from a completely different perspective.”

Dirk Niepoort in adfwines.com

In Niepoort’s firm opinion the best vineyards for Port are not necessarily the best for DOC Douro wines because “Port likes extreme situations – a south-facing, particularly dry, particularly hot vineyard. But for reds, especially whites, we need something less extreme – north-facing vineyards are much more interesting and, because of coolness at night for acidity, suddenly elevation does matter.” He believes that the best sites for whites are becoming clearer.

Still, Douro DOC wines already represent one third (by value) of production and Niepoort believes that demand for more top quality wine will increase very soon. While Symington had no doubt about top Douro wines’ ability to compete with the best of the rest or the scope for producing a lot more of it, he asked “is the average person on the street willing to pay £20 for a bottle of Douro wine?” For him, the answer is “we’re not there yet.”

Whether you are willing to pay £20, substantially more or less, I discovered plenty of wines to excite among the latest releases shown at the New Douro tasting. The 2013 Whites represent one of the best vintages I have tasted while the best 2012 Reds are broachable, with an elegant charm. Seek, and ye shall find!

Blend, All About Wine: Chaos Theory & The New Douro Symposium

April 16, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

Cristiano Van Zeller in didu.com.br

David Baverstock in blog.esporao.com

Paul Symington in symington.com

Dirk Niepoort in adfwines.com

Quinta de Soalheiro – Alvarinho Every Which Way

March 26, 2015 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

‘Scales fall from the eyes.’ It’s a dramatic phrase. One which I use twice in this post so, dear reader, I felt a responsibility to investigate its origin. Perhaps you already know that it comes from the Bible. It is the tale of Saul, a persecutor of Christians who, having had his eyesight restored by a Christian, sees the light and converts to Christianity.

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My conversion to Vinho Verde, or more accurately, Alvarinho, was hardly a religious experience. But I must admit that I have been somewhat evangelical about Alvarinho since I first discovered it some 12 years ago at the Annual Wines of Portugal Tasting. It was an unusually hot, sunny London day – where better to slake my thirst than the Vinho Verde table?

As I took my first sip of Palacio da Brejoeira Alvarinho, I experienced my first scales fall from eyes moment. I learned that Vinho Verde didn’t just come in the shape of off-dry, spritzy, commercial quaffers. The Brejoeira was as elegant and refined as its delicate flute bottle. And it knocked spots off the Rias Baixas Albariño I then sold at Oddbins!

My second scales fall from eyes moment? It was a vertical tasting at Quinta de Soalheiro with winemaker Luis Cerdeira. We tasted this, the first Alvarinho brand in Melgaço, going right back to the 1995 vintage. Another myth busted. Not all Vinho Verde is, as we say in Hugh Johnson Pocket Wine, “DYA” (drink the youngest available). The ’95 (unoaked) was glorious.

Plant the right grape variety (Alvarinho) in the right place (Monçao e Melgaço) and it thrives, even after 14 years in bottle! Going forward, it will pay to check Vinho Verde labels for that all-important sub-region, Monçao e Melgaço, because plans are afoot to allow all Vinho Verde producers, not just those located in Monçao e Melgaço, to put Alvarinho on the front label.

What makes Monçao e Melgaço Alvarinho so special? The clue is in the name of Cerdeira’s quinta. Soalheiro means sunny and, located inland and sheltered from Atlantic influence, Monçao e Melgaço is Vinho Verde’s driest, sunniest region. Maximum yields are lower too. Which explains why this sub-region’s Alvarinhos have the concentration to age so brilliantly, not to mention great complexity and finesse.

I’m looking forward to sharing these ‘scales fall from eyes’ experiences in June at a mini-vertical tasting at Quinta de Soalheiro (and a visit to Palacio da Brejoeira), when I shall be leading Blend-All-About-Wine’s premium tour of top notch Vinho Verde and Douro producers. I hope you can join me.

Here are my notes on the latest releases from Quinta de Soalheiro.

Quinta de Soalheiro Alvarinho Bruto 2013 (Vinho Espumante IG Minho)

Pale yellow with quite sizeable bubbles. Green mango to the nose which follows through on a round and creamy fruit salad palate, very fruit-focused. It’s really quite vinous – more akin to a table wine than a classical sparkler. Also because the bubbles are not very persistent, though the fruit is. Still, I’m very sure Cerdeira is not going for a Champagne-a-like espumante. Rather it’s about showcasing the titular Soalheiro/sunny fruit. Yes, you think only Australia does sunshine in a glass, but this is it. Really friendly, fun and moreish, it brought back memories of my first taste with Cerdeira over a long, convivial lunch at the Panorama restaurant. It was the perfect companion for hearty portions of fresh crab dolloped on a slab of flavoursome, rustic bread. This is for drinking! 12.5%

Quinta de Soalheiro Dócil 2014 (IG Minho)

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This medium dry, round, textural Alvarinho reveals a cascade of flavours as it opens up, from syrupy poached pears, pear skin and lychee to passionfruit. A slow, very gentle, pulse of acidity teases out the flavours. Very different from racier dry styles – a slow mo[tion] Alvarinho. 9%, 48g/l residual sugar.

Quinta de Soalheiro Alvarinho 2014 (Monçao e Melgaço)

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This was a tricky vintage on account of the rain at the end of September and in October, however Soalheiro had already harvested their fruit. The measure of this wine’s concentration and complexity is how good it tastes on day two when honeysuckle, passionfruit and a green edge of hops jumps out of the glass. Very expressive, and on the palate, which displays very succulent passionfruit, lychee and white peach. With crisp, persistent acidity to the finish, it has great appeal for lovers of New Zealand’s powerful Sauvignon Blancs.12.5%

Quinta de Soalheiro Primeiras Vinhas Alvarinho 2013 (DOC Monçao e Melgaço)

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‘Primeiras Vinhas’ denotes that this, one of my favourite Alvarinhos, is sourced from Soalheiro’s oldest vines (+30 years old). In an excellent, slow ripening year (with more winter rain than usual and a very dry and hot July and August but cold nights) it is a lovely wine, multi-layered, yet very subtle and elegant in expression. Suffice to say it doesn’t jump out the glass at you like its younger sibling, but seek and ye shall find! A waxy apricot nose and palate reveals layers of pithy orange (an attractive bitter edge) honeysuckle, creamy yellow and white peach, savoury lees and nutty nougat hints (15% of this cuvee is barrel-fermented). Dancing acidity and shimmering minerals lead a very long, lifted finish with terrific back palate resonance. Beautiful. 13%

Quinta de Soalheiro Reserva Alvarinho 2013 (DOC Monçao e Melgaço)

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The Reserva was fermented and aged in (new and used) French oak barrels with “batonnage” on fine lees until the end of Jun 2014. Sometimes I’ve found this wine a little oaky for my taste but, in 2013, it has wonderful clarity to its muscular apricot, peach, lychee and pineapple fruit. A lick of vanilla spice and dried herbs adds interest. Great poise and balance; very good. 13%

Incidentally, Soalheiro’s range of Alvarinhos extends to an aguardente Alvarinho and ‘allo’ a Minho blend of Alvarinho and Loureiro. Like I said, every which way!

Contacts
Quinta de Soalheiro
Alvaredo . Melgaço
4960-010 Alvaredo
Tel: (+351) 251 416 769
Fax: (+351) 251 416 771
E-mail: quinta@soalheiro.com
Website: www.soalheiro.com

Yes we can: Madeira Vintners – A new approach to Madeira

December 11, 2014 no comments in Uncategorized by Sarah Ahmed

Text Sarah Ahmed

The Declaration of Independence of the United States, signed in 1776, was celebrated with a glass of Madeira. But it’s not America’s third president (author of the Declaration), Thomas Jefferson, who springs to mind when I meet Paulo Mendes. Rather, I’m reminded of Barack Obama’s campaign slogan ‘yes we can’.

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“Yes, we can” in onlifesuccess.net

The most difficult business

Mendes, the tenacious CEO and architect of that rarest of breeds, a new Madeira firm, has had to be resourceful, unorthodox even, since, as he is the first to admit, “Madeira Vintners has a huge handicap – no old wines.”

Though Mendes is referring to the handicap of recreating Madeira’s stylistic profile from young stock (where Madeira is largely a marriage of old and young wines), this lack of old wines almost proved fatal from a legal perspective (about which more below). The law provides that even new companies must possess 120, 000 litres of Madeira.

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All in all it was hardly an encouraging start for this highly experienced management consultant who confesses, “at first I was the arrogant consultant who thought everyone was doing everything the wrong way.” When it dawned on him that “the wine business is one, if not the most difficult business I had ever seen in my life,” the man with a curriculum vitae as long as your arm went back to school between 2010-2012, completing MBAs in Wine Marketing & Management at Bordeaux Business School and in Wine Marketing and Winemaking at University of California, Davis.

Still, he must have taken heart from his successful turn-around of Co-operativa Agrícola do Funchal (“CAF”), the supplier of agricultural and garden products which has been managed by the keen Madeira-born strategist since 1999. It was a cash surplus generated by this “profound” turn-around which encouraged CAF’s diversification into Madeira wine in 2008 (Madeira Vintners is an independent division of CAF). Mendes clearly thrives on challenge.

Between a rock and a hard place

Naturally, Mendes’ plans initially revolved around either buying mature stocks of Madeira wine or acquiring an established firm so that he could comply with the minimum stock-holding regulations and produce Madeira wine from the off. Unfortunately, he tells me, none of the existing firms would sell him stock and “we lost all the acquisition bids,” most recently to Pereira d’Oliveira who acquired Barros e Sousa last year. It left him between a rock and a hard place.

However, thanks to a bounteous vintage in 2012, Madeira Vintners was granted a special exemption from the stock-holding requirements for new companies; its first harvest that same year was processed at Barbeito’s winery. With a heavy sigh, Mendes says rumours then circulated that Madeira Vintners was a state-owned vehicle created to buy up grape surpluses. Rumours which must have been frustrating where, leaving aside the fact that Madeira Vintners (and CAF) is privately owned, they fly in the face of a key plank of Madeira Vintners’ strategy for success. Madeira Vintners is highly selective about grape sourcing.

Rubbish in, rubbish out

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Elaborating on this strategy Mendes explains that he is betting on the quality and provenance of his raw material in a bid to differentiate Madeira Vintners from the competition. Alive to the stark reality that “either we have above average quality, or we are dead” it certainly makes sense where, with only young wines to sell, Madeira Vintners will be targeting entry level consumers whom Mendes believes are currently not well served. Dismissing many of the tourist circuit entry level 3 Year Old Madeiras as “not suitable for drinking, only culinary use,” he believes it is imperative for the island to raise the threshold of basic quality wines if new consumers are to explore the category and not to be put off by it.

For this reason he has abandoned the traditional spot market in order better to control grape quality. In Mendes’ opinion, because the island’s predominantly small growers (many of whom are gardeners or farmers, not viticulturists) want to sell their grapes at the first opportunity and the agents who operate the market are paid by the kilogram, there is little incentive to let grapes hang until they have attained the correct sugar acid balance. Too many grapes, he says, are picked at the minimum ripeness level (9% potential alcohol) and, for Mendes, who frowns on “Madeira that looks like Port,” these high acid grapes require unnecessarily high sugar additions.

Cutting out the middle man, Madeira Vintners deals directly with larger, contracted growers who tend to be more professional. Still, Madeira Vintners works with them year-round to ensure that the vineyards are properly looked after and the grapes picked at the optimum time. In return for later-picked, riper grapes, Madeira Vintners guarantees it will buy all the grapes and pays its growers an above average rate.

It’s not the only financial incentive for quality. Mendes also pays growers more if they keep down gluconic acid levels, whose formation is associated with botrytis cinerea (a mold). Too much and Madeira Vintners won’t even harvest the grapes.

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The rigorous selection process continues at the company’s shiny new winery where, Mendes boasts, Madeira Vintners is the only firm to sort grapes on reception as well as in the vineyard using a sorting table. He says there is a quantum difference between sorted and unsorted grapes; the former have fruitier aromas and none of the earthiness associated with mold. Estimating that 5-10% of hand harvested grapes are discarded he admits, “it’s a pain and expensive but we believe that if we sort the grapes, we’ll have pristine grapes.”

Terroir matters

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This year, Madeira Vintners bought 110 tons from just 20 growers whose production averaged three tons – a sizeable amount by Madeira’s standards. It allows Madeira Vintners to process each growers’ harvest separately (the winery is equipped with relatively small format fermenters, between one and ten tons). “Why spoil the wines by blending” he asks, “when you can reflect the grower, the soils and the weather?”

By adopting this small batch approach, Mendes is deliberately creating a point of difference from the competition. As he pragmatically puts it, “to survive and bring complexity we are working with as many lots as possible in the vineyards,” including Listrão (a.k.a. Palomino) and Caracol from neighbouring island, Porto Santo, whose calcareous soils differ from Madeira’s volcanic terrain. Keen to court a new audience where, he concedes, traditional connoisseurs are not his natural constituency, Mendes is aiming “to bring to the Madeira enthusiast a new approach where ‘terroir’ matters.” He is even considering labelling wines by the grower and/or the vineyard.

Madeira’s Small Hadron Collider

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Large Hadron Collider in news.discovery.com

Terroir-driven complexity is one thing, but what about the unique age-derived intensity and complexity of premium Madeiras (Five Years Old upwards)? These characteristics (traditionally the function of years of oxidative cask-ageing) define Madeira and are a pre-requisite to obtaining the Madeira Wine Institute’s seal of approval. Will time remain Mendes’ enemy until he has accumulated stocks of old wine?

While asserting “just because we’re a new company doesn’t mean we don’t believe time is key,” Mendes believes he has found a work-around – his very own Madeira wine particle accelerators. Essentially, it involves “using lots of different processes in the winery” which, if all goes to plan, will help attain the complexity and profile of five to ten year old Madeiras in just three years.

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During fermentation, these techniques include cask fermentation, cold maceration, passing by flotation, full fermentation on skins and malolactic fermentation. It made for a novel tasting of 2013 wines which showcased how these methods can alter the profile of Madeira, sometimes dramatically.

Cask fermentation introduced greater wood and cognac derived complexity (the barrels were sourced from Remy Martin). The bigger the barrel (they range from 350 litres to 600 litres), the better the oak integration.

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Cold maceration on skins for three days before fermenting produced a darker, spicier, textural, rounder, seemingly more developed Malvasia. A 2014 vintage Caracol fermented on skins is much darker and more intensely fruity and spicy.

It was also fascinating to see the difference between wines fermented with temperature control (20 degrees Celsius) or without. The former produced a much better balanced wine with more fruit and fragrance to balance the alcohol.

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While up to 10% of wines are being conventionally canteiro (cask) aged for the minimum five year period, Mendes has departed from tradition when it comes to the estufagem process of heating the wines in tank (traditionally wines are held for three months at 45 to 50º Celsius). His more differentiated approach seeks to introduce greater complexity – different blending options – via different estufa sizes (40.000 litre, 10.000 litres and 1.000 litre) and heating the estufas to slightly lower temperatures than the norm, with slower temperature variations over longer periods. The aim is to mimic the cargo hold ageing of old when Madeira was shipped across the equator and back to achieve its signature scorched earth (madeirised) tang.

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Mendes is also banking on the use of micro-oxygenation during the estufagem process to replicate traditional cask oxidation. Of those 2014 samples we tasted, those which had received oxygen management were rounder – more precocious.

No guts, no glory

With no wines yet to show for his efforts the question on everyone’s lips is can this underdog swim against the tide of tradition, or will Mendes risk becoming a beleaguered messiah like the current US President? Only time will tell but, as they say, no guts, no glory.

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I’m looking forward to tasting Madeira Vintner’s first releases. They are currently scheduled for 2016 provided that Mendes (and select customers) think they are ready. Where fortified wines struggle to remain relevant to generation X and Y, Mendes’ fresh perspective on Madeira – terroir-driven, complex but clean wines with balanced but lower alcohol (18 degrees maximum), lower sugar and acidity – is surely a welcome development.

Contacts
Cam. Sao Martinho, 56 Funchal
Madeira 9000-273
Portugal

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