Do they make wine in Portugal?


Well of course they make table wines and very many of them as well.  Although almost everyone would know and enjoy Port the table wine industry is both alive and well in Portugal.

For our Spring meeting we were able to enjoy a wine trip around Portugal and taste the well known and not quite as well known wines as well as some truly great port.

Within the Wine Club it is clear that we have members that are very able at presenting and discussing wines.

Last night we enjoyed the very good presentation given by the team that is Dan and Jayne.  A double thanks are due, not only did we have two presenters but also ones that had gone that extra mile to provide a well thought through collection of wine types and also the foods that good alongside them. Jayne was out of the country on the day of presentation as had Dan been earlier in the week, In spite of this they had acquired for us Portugese foods as well as a great collection of wines.  Many thanks for sharing your knowlege and skills with us, this was greatly appreciated.

Before the wines the team:  Dan and Jayne

We enjoyed two whites, two reds and three Ports, this first of the Whites was the  Tapadas de Villar Vinho Verde  Ex M&S at £9:00 

This was a good wine but not an outstanding one, perhaps best to quaff in sunshine before a meal. It is recommended to serve well chilled which has the effect of reducing further the citrus background to the wine.

Made from  a  blend of Loureiro, Arinto and Trajudura.  itself showing that Portugese wines are not made from the more commonly used varieties from the majority of the EU, Cab-sav, Chardonnay etc.


2015 Nobre Colheits Alvarnho Vinho Verde, @ Lidl priced at £5.99

This was a step up from our first wine, a much clearer and interesting taste, a summer wine and one that left a good mark.  The added bonus was the price, I think one of the first wines enjoyed by the Club from Lidl. Almost half the cost of the previous wine and almost twice as much positive comment.  Both wines of the Vinho Verde type. Both very fresh and an alternative in tastes from many  European wines, To be recommended by most and by Jane McQuitty of The Times, This tasted with a hard cheese.

The second of the reds was the Duque de Viseu, from Eynsham Cellars @£9.99.

Following the white wines a short trivia spot on a subject that was not trivia, Bruce gave a short resume of the thinking on how much we may drink and remain within accepted guide lines for alcohol consumption. This came down to little and not that often, a max of 14 units per week for both men and women but to be combined with time off from drinking, three days without alcohol and leaving some flexibility of how much and when to take on board that wine.

The first red was from the Upper Doura region of Norther Portugal. Smooth for sure, not too much tannin in this bottle, although matured in French and American Oak. A very good wine to have with a meat rich meals.

Our local vintner provided our last table wine, Duque de Viseu at £9.99.

The wine must represent a good buy, very smooth and made from an exceptional vineyard. Made with Tempranillo grapes as well as Touriga Nactional and Jaen.  Giving a herby, smooth table wine that cries out for red meets to accompany. Recommended.

PORTS

The port trade has been dominated by the British and British families from the 17th Century, this has lead to a close bond between the UK and Portugal based on this trade.  We all know Port but maybe don't drink as much as in the past.  The tasting will go some way to address this, we tasted three Ports, the first a white, followed by a Ruby and  a Tawny as well as full descriptions of the trade and Port types from Dan and Jayne.

The first Port was surprise, here was a white Port  to be served as an apero , sadly for the wine we couldn't help thinking and comparing to the more usual Port, Ruby, Tawny etc, this was wrong as this would stand on its own feet very happily as an apero wine.

Taylors Chip Dry White Port  Waitrose @£13.29

This wine id matured for several years in vast Oak vats and blended carefully to produce the final product. At 18% alcohol it has to represent a star buy.




On to the ruby style port, the wonderful  Fonseca Terra Prima Organic Reserve Port.  c£18.00 at Waitrose. 

A stunning  wine, we tasted a with a creamy blue cheese, a wonderful combo. A wine with a silver medal form the decanter wine challenge. Highly recommended.

and finally, the star of the show was Graham's 10 year old Tawny Port.   £18:00 at Waitrose

Those on our table though, well here is a Port that shouts, why wait for Christmas to buy Port, a wine with a strong presence of alcohol, great complexity and wonderful depth in flavour.

Date of next meeting:

May 26th

Bolivia? You're kidding!

Toby Chiles, we owe you a great debt of appreciation.

The first meeting of 2017 needs to be 'Box Office' and so it was, we were lucky enough to enjoy both a greatly skilled speaker but also a presentation that gave members both expertise and knowlege.

We had an introduction to different wines, wines that we almost certainly would not have tasted without being introduced by Toby.  We  also learned very much more about the matching of wines to food types.

So, Toby a B I G thank you, you did great job which we all  enjoyed and came away  more skilled then when we arrived - perfect!

One of the themes for the night was the point that when we buy wines we perhaps should walk past the usual and move to wines that are outside of our personal comfort zones. What did Toby mean by this?   He suggests that we need to look out for wines that are not from places we associate with wine making, places like, India, Mexico, Bolivia.  Sometimes made with grapes we may have never heard of.   His rational behind this is the fact that the market for wine is highly competitive and few outlets are going to risk placing poor wines on the valuable shelf space.

Well that is the background but what was the results?

All the wines were tasted blind, and none of the wines were classed as poor. On the contrary the standard was high and all intersting.




The wines:

The Greek Atlantis wine, Lime and pears dominate, followed by off sweet finish.  (M&S @£12:00)

The Romanian Paparuda Feteasca Regla, here we a have an example of a dry white wine that has a burden to carry if you are trying to sell the wine. One of the things which wines need to have is a name that is at least recognisable, and a grape that is likewise, at least familiar, now, who has heard of the Feteasca Regala?  But here is a very good dryish wine, partly aged on American Oak for £7:00 per bottle   (www.slurp.co.uk)

Now to the UK, the Dart Valley and off dry with loads of fruit. - very impressive.  £11.00 from www.hawkeshaedwines.co.uk.

India, too hot to grow grapes for wine making, well yes but only too hot at low levels, up in the hills it's fine and this wine was a real surprise, and lets be honest, when does M&S disappoint?  They sell this good wine bursting with mango, and gooseberry and made from Sauvignon Blanc.   £8:00   M&S


Wines tasted and compared, judged with and without foods, and my oh my, what a difference salt or sugar can make, how the tannins fade with fatty sausage, how the white wines make soft cheeses sing and make hard cheese and the wine become tasteless.   This last point quite amazing.

We also discover how good or not so good we are at smelling and defining what we are smelling. It seems that about 1 in 7 or 8 can identify a smell, Caramel and for most lemon was easy but then of the remainder of the smell tests most of us were without a clue, again something of a shock. This leading us to conclude we all live in our own world or bubble when it comes to tasting, so if it works for you, that's fine.  

We had two quick quizes, trivia on wine, congrats to Dan and Louise:

The semi final.

After a number of impressive whites it was now into the world of tannins, Uruguay, Macedonia, Mexico, Bolivia.  All very good wines, and more that  that, intersting wines, and what a great thing to offer up, blind with friends over food?

The Bernard Magrez Elegancia, sadly not longer available in the UK just now.

A Mexican Malbec, vibrant, would be good with red meats.

M&S £7:00

Bolivia, really? Oh yes and very good indeed. Another M&S find at £11.00 

A very good red, loads of black fruits. 

Back to Europe for the wine from Macedonia, a robust merlot, but a well mannered wine. 

M&S £7:00

The meeting would not be complete without a 'stickie' and what to eat with the same. Surprise, surprise, would a blue cheese be good, or maybe high cocoa chocolate, not good but fantastic. Both food and wine made better. 

The hit of the sweetness and the depth of flavours, beautiful, and this from Portugal.  A Moscatel, Amazon.  £13.00 for 75c cl. 

Now a date for your diary, the next meeting will be a week later than normal, APRIL 7.  The wines of Portugal.

...But once a year...

The Club's November meeting always seems to mark the start of the Christmas season.

All through the year we members of the Club work hard with a never ending quest to improve our knowlege of wines and also to enjoy new wines.  At this year end meeting  the emphasis changes, here we want to enjoy some good wines, of course, in good company, naturally,  and maybe stretch our collective minds by tackling some brain teasers.


The evening is a great example of the self-help attitude that the members of the club relish.  All the foods are brought along, amazingly without much planning other than the general guide, please bring 'finger foods'. Amazingly we end up with a great selection of foods and all of a high, high standard.

Then there are the wines, and here we did a sneaky thing, we put all the wines into carafes and asked the question, what are we drinking, answers please made into scrabble words and yes you only have the tiles needed, no spares and yes you need to use all those tiles.

Lots of head scratching and hard work resulted in everyone, or every table resolving the question, What is it?


All very impressive and challenging, and for this we must thank Chris who put in a lot of work , thought and effort in making this work so well.

But what were the wines?  We wanted to have wine that was in some way special and that was suitable to go with a wide range of foods.  This is what we had::


The 'Fizz" was the Cremant du Jura, a Chardonnay fizz from that area of France, all agreed that this was a fine choice and a very good wine, all the more so given its modest price at under £8.00 per bottle. Oh yes and nice bottle as well!  (Available from Aldi £7.29)















The white wine was another popular wine  and a steal at the price, a wine not commonly known and often talked down but one that suited the evening well. Light yet with some fruit.  This was from the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Range, Verdicchio..  Normally available at £7.00 but currently on offer at £6.00.













For the Reds we bought via Majestic Wines, following a wine tasting at the Witney branch we sought something that was slightly 'off piste' but with a strong character.  The Emilo Moro hit the spot and how. A succulent and rich red, made with the Tempranillo grape, subtle tannins and bags of black fruit.  Highly recommended.  (Majestic @ £16.99)

















We added a 'stickie' to the list of wines and ours was the De Bortilli Botrytis Semillon 2013.  How was it, as ever, some loved it to bits,  others, were more muted and no thank you. But that is how it is with such wines, those that love them love the depth flavour and the luscious taste, this one was not quite up there in terms of quality, maybe a 6 out of ten type wine. (£10.00 per half bottle - Majestic Wine Warehouse)

The Usual Suspects

A resume of the coming years programme was shared, this will kick off in January with the very able and knowledgeable wine expert, Toby Chiles, the date of the meeting is JANUARY 27.  All the other dates and full programme will follow when confirmed.

In the meantime a few shots of the evening:

Germany has no Reds

Just one of the many misconceptions dispelled last night at the Wine Club was that Germany does not make red wine in quantity and quality.

Let me explain, at our meeting of the Wine Club for September, we were very fortunate in having a presentation by two members who know Germany and know German wines well.  Renata and John have strong connections to the vineyards of Northern Germany stretching back over many years.

We enjoyed the wines from one vineyard, the vineyard of Burggarten in the Ahr region of Germany.

How last night was special though was that, in addition to some cracking wines, we were treated to a tour of the area by description and photographs.   Within the Club we are very lucky in having members that have intimate knowlege of wine areas, great knowlege of the wines and a passion for both, John and Renata were able to share both last night.

In the past we have had meeting where German wines have been discussed, the issue is for those from the UK  getting hands on German wine, the fact is that only small amounts are shipped to the here. Partly because most German wines are drunk at home and partly because German wines have a reputation that stretches back to the days of the dreaded warm, overly sweet "Blue Nun' wine that many people now associate with German wine.  Our speakers bought the wines we drank last night back via motor car.

In fact the wines of Germany are both varies in type and of high quality and, yes comes in other colours than red!

The first three wines were white.

Of these the first was also the most popular wine of the evening

The Weissburgunder was a very fine wine indeed. Not dry, not sweet, great overtones of fruit. Perfect for drinking with friends in the summer or any season.

The Grauburgunder was good but was overshadowed by its illustrious proceeding wine. 

The final white was a classic Mosel Riesling, and what a cracker that wine was. A textbook taste, if one can have that with the Riesling grape. Spot on as they say

The raffle winners were lucky enough to have wines that we have seen before, wines that were part of the presentation of Wine Labels

The reds were all based on the Pinot grape but not all Pinot Noir, only the last wine, and to many the best Red of the night.

The burning question of the night is "Where can I buy these very good wines, and the very good answer is that you must drive to the Ahr region of Germany and visit the vineyards.  You would be sure of a great welcome and enjoy a very good weekend in the area. John was telling us that it takes just nine hours (door to door) to get to the area. Although he didn't mention it I'm suspecting that english is available widely.

AOB

Date to the next meeting, November 25th.  Our 'social evening and 'pot luck' supper.