Red Bubbles Pushing the Envelope

Text Ilkka Sirén

Sparkling wine has a unique place in our society. It is treated, talked about and consumed quite differently than any other beverage. Champagne’s centuries long marketing campaign has left a permanent festive stigma which affects the way we drink sparkling wine. It’s all about celebration, you see. Luckily nowadays there seems to be a trend towards more casual approach to bubbles. People popping bottles during the week without any major reason to celebrate. It is becoming more like your everyday wine than a festive statement that people use to underline the fact that “we are having a party”.

Despite the ongoing evolution in the world of wine, sparkling wine remains pretty much unchanged. It feels like nobody dares to break the marriage of wine and bubbles, and just perhaps create something different. Doing so is considered almost sacrilegious. But every now and then you do come across sparkling wines that make you snap out of this weird state of vinous dormancy.

Such a wine was Aphros Vinhão Super-Reserva Bruto. I visited a wine tasting here in Helsinki and came across a bottle of their red bubbles. Which doesn’t happen that often. First I thought “ah, Lambrusco” but to my surprise it came from Portugal, and from Vinho Verde of all places. Even though the wine region of Vinho Verde is well-known for its fresh white wines, there are some great red wines being produced there. One of the classics is a deep-coloured red wine from a grape called Vinhão. It produces wines so intensely red that after a glass you will look like a character from Twilight. Additionally the wines are usually acidic and quite tannic making it not the most approachable drop for novices. To make it even more bizarre it is traditionally enjoyed from a porcelain cup with seafood like grilled fish or a grim-looking lamprey. The end result, delicious.

The wine itself was opaque with a red and purple hue. On the nose it was full of red berries and spices. An explosion of aromas both familiar and exotic. The mouthfeel was something else. Nothing can prepare you for it if you haven’t had this kind of wines before. The “mousse” was rich and more textured than your average sparkling wine. Quite intense yet surprisingly fresh at the same time. Plenty of spicy and earthy flavors with a nice tannin grip at the end. The finish had a similar refreshing bitter touch that you get from a very hoppy IPA beer. A bit herbal and vegetal but not in an unripe way.

Although it was not exactly a mainstream wine, I could actually see many people enjoying this. It might require a certain mindset going in and maybe some nice food to go along with it. But I think many people could appreciate the uniqueness of this wine. I have tasted only a handful of wines in my life that come close to what this wine has to offer. Daring? Yes. Viable? Who knows. Tasty? Abso-frigging-lutely!

Contacts
Quinta Casal do Paço
Padreiro (S. Salvador)
Arcos de Valdevez 4970-500 Portugal
Tel: (+351) 914 206 772
Email: info@afros-wine.com
Site: www.aphros-wine.com

Small World of Grapes

Text Ilkka Sirén

Portugal’s varietal diversity is definitely one of its key strengths. It’s like a giant treasure chest full of possibilities. Even though some of them are near impossible to pronounce, they are what makes the Portuguese wine scene so unique.

But even with all these excellent grape varieties there is limitless possibilities to plant international varieties too. I know that this is a subject that many wine people debate; should we plant international varieties or stick to the indigenous ones. Indigenous grape varieties seem to be trending at the moment and I do also think that is something all winemakers should cherish. “Who needs another Cabernet, right?” Well, I do. If it’s good. There is certainly many factors to why some winemakers use certain varieties but in the end it’s all about making good wine. If you do not succeed with one variety then try another one. I know, easier said than done.

There is no way around it, though. The world we live in is much smaller than it used to be. Information travels fast but so does everything else. Just the other day I orderded a whole jamón ibérico from Barcelona and in just a couple of days it was in front of my door here in Helsinki. I mean, it used to take me a couple days just to connect to the internet through one of those old modems that made a horrible dialing sound. Remember? Well, apparently grape varieties like to travel too because nowadays you can find some really curious stuff from places you never expected. Which I think is quite neat.

Such was the case with this wine, Quinta de Sant’Ana Riesling. A riesling from Lisbon…say whaat?! Must say I’m a bit of riesling nut. Nothing like those riesling jihadists you sometimes meet but definitely a fan. This wine comes from Mafra, just north of Lisbon. An unlikely place to find riesling but nevertheless there I was holding a bottle of Vinho Regional Lisboa Riesling. At this point a riesling fundamentalist would have thrown away the bottle in horror, washed his hands and sacrificed a small goat to the Gods of Riesling. Not me. I was very eager to taste it.

On the nose it was a bit floral and had more ripe fruit characters than a stereotypical riesling. But still pleasantly aromatic with peach and some herbal notes. On the palate it was surprisingly fresh and lean, not as ripe as the nose suggested. Slightly unusual but overall a tasty interpretation of riesling. Lisbon will never be Mosel and that’s good. It gives an opportunity to create something unique.

The next white wine was also a non-Portuguese variety, Sauvignon Blanc. A variety that I usually struggle with. At best it can be incredibly savory and food-friendly like no other. But most Sauvignon Blancs are OK-ish at best and generally just uninteresting. Sniffing this wine was like being stuck inside a washing machine. Around and around we go. On the one hand it had this grassy element of a cool climate Sauvignon Blanc. But on the other hand it had plenty of honeydew and ripe pear which reminded me more of Chenin Blanc. Made me hungry for some grilled king crab. Not a mind-blowing wine but if you’re into Sauvignon Blanc you might find yet another side of this forceful grape variety.

Contacts
Quinta de Sant’Ana
2665-113 Gradil
Rua Direita 3, Mafra, Portugal.
Tel: (+351) 261 963 550
E-mail: geral@quintadesantana.com
Site: www.quintadesantana.com

MAPA Swimming Upstream Like a Burbot

Text Ilkka Sirén

Seasons provide a wide range of opportunities to drink different kinds of wines. Here in Finland you can see what time of the year it is from what people are drinking. During Easter it’s mostly red wine and countries like Spain and Italy, especially the wines from Veneto like Valpolicella for example, are quite popular. If you see people guzzling cheap sparkling wine by the gallons on the streets and parks it’s probably 1st of May. In the beginning of summer rosé wines start to crawl out like a bunch of bear cubs who just finished hibernating.

When people begin to haul bag-in-box wines to their summer cottages it means midsummer is getting close. At the end of summer the rosé wines disappear as fast as they came and when the days start to get shorter people switch to full-bodied reds, probably from Chile or Argentina. Now, I might be exaggerating a bit but Finnish people are quite predictable when it comes to their drinking habits. To some extent I guess it’s pretty much the same all over the world.

As the four distinct seasons change so does the food we eat and the beverages we drink. One of the delicacies in Finland this time of the year is the burbot. You probably never heard of it but it’s a fish. It’s not the prettiest fish around, looks like a cross between a cod fish and an eel, but it’s definitely one of the most tasty ones. Burbot season is usually on during January and February. There is a couple ways of cooking it but the most famous is a classical burbot soup. You have to make sure to harvest its roe before throwing it in the pot. Burbot roe is very fine-grained and extremely tasty. Normally you eat it on a toast or blini with maybe some sour cream and onion. The drink of choice usually would be beer and schnapps but I went with white wine from the Douro.

Douro is still widely regarded as the land of port wine. If you had said twenty years ago that Douro could produce some amazingly fresh non-fortified white wines, most people would have though you are crazy. I have had my fare share of ups and downs with my love affair with the Douro valley and its wines. But every now and then I encounter wines that remind me why I fell in love with it in the first place. Such was the case with MAPA Douro Branco 2013 that I chose to drink with the burbot roe. MAPA comes from a place called Muxagata in the Douro Superior. The wine itself had less ripe tropical fruit aromas than I have come to expect from the Douro whites. More on the side of fresh citrus, spruce buds and a touch of pear. What really impressed me was the compact structure of the wine but still it had a certain lightness to it that carried the wine for a long and mouthwatering finish. It was a great match with the food and seemed to create a really positive buzz around the table, which is always a good thing.

With the main course, the soup, we had the MAPA Vinha dos Pais 2013. It’s pretty much a typical Douro blend with the usual suspects like Rabigato, Viosinho, Arinto and Gouveio. Fermented and aged in 500 liter oak barrels for 12 months. Both of these wines were 2013 but unlike the MAPA Branco this wine felt just way too young. With the food it performed quite well but without it the wine was a bit awkward. The oak wasn’t really integrated but it had a beautiful underlying minerality. I reckon even with just one more year in the bottle it could already be much more balanced. It’s just one of those things that we have to wait and see. After the magnificent purity of the first wine I was slightly disappointed. Mainly because the oak didn’t seem to fit in and instead of having a sort of seamless flavor profile it felt somewhat disjointed. I might have just caught it in a weird phase and will definitely retaste it in the future to see how it evolves.

Overall MAPA is a fantastic addition to the very exciting category of Douro Superior wines. I look forward drinking more of their wines and maybe someday visit them in Portugal, with or without the burbot.

Contacts
MAPA
Muxagata – Vila Nova de Foz Côa – Douro Superior
Urbanização Vila Campos, lote 40
5000-063 Vila Real
Tel: (+351) 259 374 155
Mobile: (+351) 938 537 914
E-mail: geral@mapavinhos.pt
Site: www.mapavinhos.pt

Against the Odds

Text Ilkka Sirén

Finding a decent bottle of Portuguese wine in Finland is easier said than done. When I first started to shout about the wines of Portugal here the selection was very tiny. Nowadays the selection has grown but it’s still quite small. In the monopoly shop’s “basic selection” there is approximately 22 different Portuguese red wines, 9 white wines, 2 sparklings and 1 rosé. There’s a bit more wines in the special selection but most of the people never use it or doesn’t even know it exists. There’s not a lot to choose from. I’m happy that people are getting more interested and now some wines are even sold out because they have received good reviews.

I went to the nearest monopoly shop and grabbed the first Portuguese wine that was unknown to me. It was Caves Velhas Cabeça de Toiro Reserva 2010 from Tejo. Caves Velhas belongs to the Enoport United Wines which is a group of old Portuguese wineries such as Adegas Camillo Alves, Caves Dom Teodósio, Caves Moura Basto and a few others. The wine itself was a 50/50 blend of Touriga Nacional and Castelão. The bottle came in a cardboard box which was covered in pictures of medals and other achievements that this particular wine has received. It looked a bit omnious.

Tasting the wine I thought that the Touriga Nacional and Castelão combination works quite well. Castelão brings down a bit of the floral aromatics of the Touriga without losing any of its intensity. As the label suggests it’s a beefy wine. Full-bodied with some ripe fruit and earthy oak aromas. I was expecting something even heavier but luckily it wasn’t. Still a wine with some cojones but perhaps together with some food it could be just what the doctor ordered.

So, I had to get myself a big steak. I can usually cook a pretty good steak, rare of course, but somehow I managed to overcook it. Distracted by the glass of wine in my hand the steak cooked through and the end result was well done. Damn! I was still hungry so I had to think of something. An idea of a spicy tagliata-esque sliced steak popped into my head. I also mashed up a chunky guacamole and voilà, lunch was ready. It was pretty good too if I say so myself. But the most surprising thing was how well the wine went with this sort of spicy food. It’s obvious that it pairs well with steak but a steak with chili, lime and cilantro. Who would have thought. Even if I managed to mess up the food the wine managed to save the day.

Best of 2014

Text Ilkka Sirén

It’s been quite a year. It was supposed to be a fairly relaxed one but turned out to be one of the busiest. I visited Portugal 7 times last year! That might not sound like much but traveling all the way from Helsinki it’s pretty much the longest trip you can make inside continental Europe. But even though it’s a bit of trek I’m always delighted to go. My enthusiasm towards Portugal and Portuguese wines only seems to grow with every visit.

Here are some of my favorite moments in Portugal last year:

Beautiful Vinho Verde. Spring time in the Vinho Verde wine region is spectacular. Like the name suggests it’s really really green. People are burning leaves and branches on their yards creating this unique scent that fills the air. Belly full of delicious alheira sausage and a glass full of Alvarinho. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Grand Madeiras. The Madeira wine tasting held by Rui Falcão at the Essência do Vinho event in Porto was nothing short of amazing. The line-up consisted of Barbeito Sercial 1898, Blandy’s Verdelho 1887, d’Oliveira Verdelho 1850, Justino’s Boal 1934 and Henriques & Henriques Malmsey Solera 1900. Simply wow! It’s the kind of stuff dreams are made of.

Big J. Meeting João Nicolau de Almeida from Ramos Pinto was what I would imagine how normal people feel when they meet Jay-Z. I didn’t scream or ask him to sign my cleavage but it was close. He is a visionary winemaker and pioneer in the Douro valley. Drinking with him was definitely a wine moment to remember.

Chameleon. Visiting the Young Winemakers of Portugal tasting in Lisbon I came across Camaleão. The Chameleon on the label is printed with some sort of thermal ink that reacts to the temperature. Green – too warm, blue – ready to serve. Such a brilliant idea and I wonder how come I haven’t seen this anywhere else. The wine wasn’t bad either.

Killer tomatoes. These “bull’s heart” heirloom tomatoes I had at Vale da Capucha winery, oh my God. Probably the best tomatoes in the world. They were like steaks, only healthier. Drizzle some olive oil on top, sprinkle of salt and be ready to get your world rocked.

Vinous batmobile. I was visiting some vineyards in Colares wine region near Lisbon and I saw this dude. It was harvest time and this lovely old fellow was transferring boxes full of grapes to the winery. He was rocking a pretty old-school vehicle and when he started the engine it looked like something out of a Donald Duck comic book. He even let me take the wheel for a while. Awesome!

Let’s eat. The dinner at Cervejaria Ramiro in Lisbon with Eduarda and Luis from Vadio and wine writer Jamie Goode was fantastic. Some stuff I always try to eat while in Portugal. Shrimps, clams, goose barnacles and of course lots of beer. Finishing with a traditional prego “burger” and you’re set. Yummy!

The Baron. Another great character I met last year was Bodo von Bruemmer. This 103-year-old youngster started making wine in his late 90’s. What?! If that doesn’t teach you that it’s never too late nothing will.

Quinta do Noval. Together with its Nacional vineyard Quinta do Noval is one of the most iconic wine estates not just in Portugal but in the entire world. Visiting this quinta has been in my bucket list a long time and now I finally made it there. Now I just wish to go back there and enjoy some epic port wines.

Pearl of the Atlantic. I visited the island of Madeira a couple times this year and I just can’t get over how beautiful it is. It’s downright majestic. I really enjoyed my time there and can’t wait to get back. Worthy of a wine pilgrimage and when you are there grab also a few glasses of poncha.

Wishing all the readers a delicious year 2015!