Text João Pedro Carvalho | Translation Jani Dunne

I was born and raised in Alentejo; more precisely in Vila Viçosa. It was life’s wish that, at 18, I come to Lisbon to study. At a time when wine did not mean much to me, except to share at the table with friends, we would occasionally open a bottle or two. And now, destiny has brought me back to live on the other side of the wall from one of the main distributors of wine in the Lisbon region. I cannot remember how many times I walked in there; my memory holds only as much as what I learned from the many hours of conversation and the many wines I bought and got to know throughout the years, many of which came straight from producers. Producers cropped up everywhere at the time, like mushrooms. My interest for the wine world kept growing and growing; I completed every necessary training programme and, thus, was more able to observe how the main references and producers in the industry developed.

One moment I will not forget is when I discoved the remarkable Moscatel de Setúbal by José Maria da Fonseca, or even Bastardinho. For many years – and still today – every time a group of close friends got together for a delicious meal, we had the perfect reason to bring out those bottles of Alambre 20 Years to top off our dessert.

On one of those visits, the latest wine by José Maria da Fonseca had just been released – a Moscatel, which oenologist Domingos Soares Franco had chosen as his model of innovation. He named it Colecção Privada (Private Collection). The product of a 5-year long investigation consisting in experiments with four types of aguardente (Portuguese type of brandy): neutral, Cognac, Armagnac and 50/50 Cognac Armagnac. The Armagnac came out as the favourite, having revealed subtlety, freshness, complexity and harmony during the tasting. The ageing of this wine is done in used wooden casks and does not age any further in the bottles, because it simply doesn’t develop once bottled.

Colecção Privada stands out from the other older wines of superior categories, as it doesn’t have the same gelatinous thick texture; this Armagnac-rich Colecção Privada Domingos Soares Franco 2004 is fresh and delicate, and yet its sweeter side shows. A lot of tangerine, caramel, apricot, lime – an excellently composed taste – elegant and soft thanks to the caramel fruit and orange syrup; the acidity is present until the end.  A lasting farewell immersed in a beautiful harmony between scent and palate sensations. For me, a sweet-tooth, it goes exceptionally well with orange pie.

Contacts
Quinta da Bassaqueira – Estrada Nacional 10,
2925-542 Vila Nogueira de Azeitão, Setúbal, Portugal
Tel: (+351) 212 197 500
E-mail: info@jmf.pt
Website: www.jmf.pt