I was lucky to move to the Campolide neighborhood when I returned to Lisbon last month: fate would have it that Os Goliardos, Portugal’s most non-mainstream wine shop, would be just around the corner from my place. The first time I posted a part of their selection on this board, asking for suggestions, the unanimous response was ‘that’s as good as it gets in the sub-100€ price range’. It’s a grand coalition of traditionalism, natural wine, biodynamics, and all those who fall under the wide umbrella of low intervention winemaking in a contrarian (non-mainstream, anti-blockbuster) profile. Baudry, Foillard, Kreydenweiss, Roagna, those 80 year old Colares wines: you name it, they’re there.
As if that weren’t enough, Os Goliardos are also producing wine themselves. Their ‘Uvelhas Negras’ collection (a play on words, ‘uva’ being ‘grape’, ‘ovelha negra’ being ‘black sheep’) is the result of their collaboration with domestic producers who are willing to let them run amok with their grapes, in their cellars. This particular wine came from Álvaro Castro’s Quinta da Pellada, a cornerstone of the Dão, and is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Baga (stainless steel) and Alfrocheiro (24 months in aged barrels), clocking in at 13% ABV.
My first impression was that calling this ‘black sheep’ was extremely apropos. This wine sees the round, supple, warm climate wines across the street and moons them. The notes of wet earth, pine tree and rosin are more a slap in the face rather than an aromatic impression. Infrequent, timid manifestations of crunchy red fruit feel almost like a momentary relief before the forest of the elves continues to scream into your nostrils. This wine is grinning and asking you how much AFWE you can take before you run off to momma (I told myself I’m a big boy but was getting teary eyed). Its savoriness is almost salty. Its above average acidity is obfuscated by an end palate bitterness that cannot conceivably be there to be enjoyed without food.
This wine screams of personality. We’re not sure whether to be annoyed or intrigued by its rebelliousness. I, for one, am both glad it exists and glad that not every wine is like this. You can’t have a whole family of black sheep, but it helps to have someone who’s capable of saying some harsh truths at the dinner table - while providing the perfect foil for your meal at the same time (at least on day 2).
