Not Douro!!

WINE TALK
1

Great tasting downtown at my fave winestore where I help out at tastings. Stand up, 7 wines from areas such as Lisboa, Dao, Tras-os-Montes. Annabelle from Portugal is a store co-owner and presented all the wines in a very informative manner. Food was cheese etc, 10% discount on wines purchased.

  1. 2017 Viuva Gomes Patrao Diogo Branco Lisboa


    One of the oldest wine areas. Saline, mineral, nutty, good depth. Zesty, would be good with shellfish…nice mineral finish, serve not too chilled. $27 Cdn

  2. 2016 Case de Mouraz Encruzado, Dao.

New grape for me. Hazelnut, creamy, gd acidity. 30 yr old vines, some though nice and rich.
Fire has devastated the area of late. $35.

  1. 2015 Casa de Mouraz Tinto, Dao.

Top drawer here! Good aromatics, light red ruby, dryish, excellent tannins. Forest area, 9 varietals. $30.

  1. 2016 Terras de Mogadouro Tinto, Tras-os-Montes.

High elevation, sparse vine growing area, small productionI guess. Almost opaque, solid red here, grippy tannins, nice acidity and well integrated. Must buy, $27.

  1. 2015 Valle de Passos Tinto, Tras-os-Montes.

Opaque, 13.5%alc, tannic… QPR for sure. Tinta Franca, Amarele, Nacional.

  1. 2016 Case de Passarella O Oenologo VV Dao.

Owner won the lottery yrs ago so huge investment. Oak induction here, cool climate area, 80 yr old vines. 2 hr decant, 14% alc, Deeper red ruby, v nice herbal on the nose, cherry and raspberry. $47.

  1. 2015 Viuva Gomes Patrao Diogo Tinto, Lisboa

Nice fresh fruit, soft tannins, well balanced, very entry level. $27. Would go good with pork for sure.

2

Thanks for the notes, Bob,

I got very excited about Portuguese wines when we were there this summer, and obviously they are great values. I believe we drank a more aged version of the Encruzado, which was lovely. And the Viuva Gomes is the same as the one known for their Colares, no? Is she/you including the region (near Sintra) in Lisboa (Lisbon) or is this from a different set of vineyards?

3

To my understanding the Patron Diogo bottlings are Vinho Regional Lisboa, aka. non-Colares bottlings of the winery.

4

Can confirm this is correct. Was just there.

5

Have access to some Colares vintages here in Alberta.

6

Thanks to you both; so different vineyards, eh; but their own?

7

Colares has two areas. Colares itself is a sub region of the larger Lisboa appellation. The classic area is by the ocean, on pure sand. The vines must be ungrafted and of the classic varieties to be labeled Colares. The area inland has a mix of sand and clay soils. Most of the vines are trellised and some nontraditional grape varieties are grown. These wines have the Lisboa seal.

Encruzado from the Dao has become my favorite white grape variety. From old vines and proper vinification, they age superbly. Passarella does a great example as well.