Doktor Weingolb

When I receive not one comment on a wine I review on this site, I'm bound to notice. I don't feel sorry for myself, I feel sorry for the wine.

I'm taking about a Portuguese wine I profiled three weeks ago. It's the only Weingolb post in a long time that hasn't received any comment and the first Weingolb review since January to go by uncommented.

Granted this Portuguese wine was not given a great review -- hard to spur on interest or conversion in that. But I think that it's the wine being Portuguese rather than it being less than stellar that explains why no one is intrigued enough to submit a response to it. I'm not sure what to do about this.

NO COMMENT?

I did a Portuguese week in February and March of 2006 when this blog was officially renamed Doutor Golb do vinho. I think that caused more of a scene on BlogShares than it did among my few readers.

Nevertheless, a year and a half later, I'm still pursuing my fondness of good-value indigenous regional wine of Portugal. More than 5% of my posts deal with the produce of Dão, Douro, Alentejo and Ribatejo et al. I believe that's a lot for the wine market I live in.

I do appreciate other sites like Catavino which focuses exclusively on Iberian wines. They're a great place to go when you know you're looking for a Portuguese bottle. But how do you introduce Portugal to a wine drinker who might not think to go looking for it? [Update: this issue has been somewhat immediately remedied by Catavino announcing their Portuguese focus for WBW 38, just moments after I posted this entry! Well played Catavino!]

For one thing, Dr. Vino's hosting of WBW #37 is a wonderful and eye-opening look at indigenous wines and I'm glad such a big theme event has come along to profile wines like Portugal's -- which is exactly what Dr. Vino's own write-up tackled.

In the end, I think my 5% blog rule is effective. I think in particular of how RougeAndBlanc, which features a majority of French and American wines, manages the same kind of thing when he integrates a healthy dose of wines like those from Portugal and most recently, the Balkans -- which is cool -- into his regular lineup of reviews.

It's almost like blogging about wine regions ripe for discovery on the sly -- perhaps that's the best way to influence the masses. Do it in between the Côte-Roties and international Cabernets.

SOME SLY WINES TO TRY

Fontanário de Pegões (tinto) Palmela 2003

A lighter and more inviting wine than you'd expect to dive into. It's a rare single-variety Castelão wine from a region which is named Palmela and whose reds I am not used to trying. It is a fruit-forward wine that is ready for instant enjoyment. No fretting over tannins. Almost too quaffable the way this wine flows and flows. But then Fontanário de Pegões gets its name from a fountain. I like a well-named wine.

Full descriptive information: www.cooppegoes.pt

SAQ product file: SAQ site is down on Monday morning! / Site web SAQ est en panne! Now available

TOO SLY BY HALF

Quinta do Côtto (tinto) Douro 2003

I was running into Kingston's LCBO with little time to waste. I picked up a couple Domaine du Ruault and then saw this bottle on the way out of the Vintages section. It was $21. I snapped it up. When I uncorked it, I knew I had made a hasty purchase. Though it possesses a lot more character, depth, body and tannic punch than the first wine, it is not any better balanced and actually has less personality. It may be a superior wine to the first (check the specs at www.quintadocotto.pt but it comes down to value and its $20+ sticker price is off.

Little did I know how prescient my notes would be. It turns out that Côtto is not a $20+ wine at all. It's available at the SAQ for $16.95, making it justly priced at $4 less than what I paid.

And that'll teach me for being such a sly wineblogger, thinking I'm entitled to reduced wine prices every time I pass through Ontario.

The minimalist design on the label of the Prazo de Roriz Douro 2003 mentions in tiny tiny print a parcel of land -- Quinta de Roriz, or the Roriz Estate, if you were to translate it to English. This lauded vineyard, which, by the way, produced the wine that went on to take the Number 55 spot on Wine Spectator's Top 100 this year, is actually connected to the cuvée presented yesterday: Like the Altano from Douro, the Prado de Roriz is another feather in the cap of the prestigious Symington Family, who have been producing port in the region for more than a century.

We bought the Prazo de Roriz, a winner of a blend, in Niagara over Christmas. Back then it was about $15. In Quebec, the SAQ never stocked it and doing a quick search on the current stock shows that there are only three left at the LCBO (just click on the image above for more). I am surprised to find that it is priced to clear at $11.95. What a deal!

I do suspect the praise this Prado de Roriz got from the annual Wine Spectator listing is directly related to its fruity and vital "drink me now" style. One reason to drink now is its lack of tannins -- not so much a deficiency as an important and unique quality of this wine. That quality also likely the reason why one of 2005's celebrated wines is now found marked down in price.

This wine went way too round and flat after I neglected putting the leftover mini-bottle of wine in the fridge. Thinking the wine would become more harmonious and attractive after recorking it turned out to be my mistake. The storage technique may have something to due with this -- it was the first time I deviated from chilling the leftovers -- but I suspect that it has something to do with the wine too. After two days time, I had stripped this beauty of its natural charms and I think it was because I had virtually induced a three-year-process of ageing, simply through encouraging air to affect to the recorked wine. Three years is not at all something that this wine needs or wants. Even though I had expected any vintage from hot and sweltering 2003 to shoulder the weight of time (my "lucky leftover" rule for 2003 had never failed me), the Prado de Roriz, despite its full and strong character, was simply not made for it. Drink now, drink now!

For some pairing ideas, I can say that I had it with the same thing both nights -- a pork loin roast with mushrooms, green peppers and oregano in a maple-mustard reduction sauce. In the past, I've had it with a savoury fish fillet in a pungent brown butter sauce. Tannins are light so both ideas work. Heavy, gamey meats might be the only selection that would let you down.

My tasting notes: Complex nose, with a sharp tanginess right out of the bottle. Almost seemed to be searching for balance (hello tannins?) but with such intriguing complexity and matter to the wine, as well as a lovely finish, the wine was nearly as charming as my intial sampling of it over the Christmas holidays. Darker fruit than most Portuguese on the palate. Hints of licorice and fat. Definitely not of the same calibre of most under $15 reds.

São João da Pesqueira, Portugal. 13.5%.

Welcome to Alentejo, the part of the country tucked away along the southern border with Spain. The land is fertile -- paradoxically not the best conditions for winemaking but a good place to start acquainting oneself with the wines of the region. With a long hot and arid growing season, Alentejo offers wines that are inexpensive and often charming beyond their rustic charms.

Alentejo has another claim to fame in the winemaking world, one that is much more prestigious: the mostly flat countryside doubles as for a hotspot for harvesting cork. Unfortunately it is in this milieu that Alentejo has received the most acknowledgement. But now, with the invention of other wine stoppers, this niche seems to be as much on the wane as Portugal's upstart vintners are on the way up. Alentejo will fight for its long-time specialization, which is currently being revved up in a new promotional effort. (Eagle eyes at Vinosense have just pointed this out.)

For now, many cork trees continue to dot the landscape. And it's safe to say that locals will never be at a loss for a proper seal for their characteristic red wine: full and agreeable with emphasis on fruit and spice. Without ado, the wine!

Sogrape's Vinha do Monte 2003 is a fun, flavourful wine. It is not incredibly dry, and instead of tannins, a strong grapefruitiness provides plenty of acidity to create balance. It's not often that citrus flavour comes through in a red but I would say that when it does, it doesn't necessarily means the bottle is off. Vinha do Monte is a case in point, because the fruit-based acidity strikes a balance for this blend. It creates a kind of structure that absent tannins cannot.

Certainly, this wine is all about fruit. From the spicy plummy goodness on the nose, to the juicy, pungent and fleshy matter on the palate. Instantly evocative of spice and candied fruits, light to medium bodied and amicable with a variety of foods. Hints of chocolate wrapped in a noticeable herbal astringency are also noted. While this bottle is a blend, the main component is Aragonês, a grape variety that goes by the name Tinta Roriz or Tempranillo in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The grape is known for its spiciness. It is an immediately gratifying wine, ready to drink, which is partly why it is so much fun. You could also decant it for looks but this is a wine that does not need its rough edges softened through the process of oxidation.

Made primarily of the same Portuguese regional grape (though situated in a different, more northern region of Portugal) is a wine that definitely does require aeration. The Altano 2003 produced by the Symington Family Estates makes for quite a counterpoint. For here is the most serious wine you can buy for such a low pricepoint, and we're not just talking about from Portugal but from virtually anywhere.

Full-bodied and replete with matter, notes of tobacco, this wine is also chocolatey, much more so than the Monte. In fact there's a earthiness about the Douro that renders it to an entirely different register. It's simply jam-packed with dense and intense fruit. But you might not know it in the first hours of uncorking -- this wine is shy. Should you open and immediately serve this Douro, greenness and bitterness overshadows the structure, the power, and the generosity that lies within. You ought to decant this bottle for a least an hour to arrive at its heart.

I have not yet tasted the current 2002 vintage, but the Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande 2000 is delicious. The blend of traditional red grapes from the Douro region of Portugal combines into a luxurious wine with lots of character. More than 20 minutes in the decanter pays off well as the sharpness of the fruit mellows considerably and notes of leather become well developed. This is a very silky and robust wine, yet it does not overpower. It's not too rich or heavy, and its charming style which verges on rustic, is one that I appreciate. Often I find these kinds of wines to be the most food-friendly. Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande 2000 is the perfect accompaniment to food, and especially the kind of affordable but comforting food I most often prepare at this time of year: pork roasts, pan-grilled chicken and pasta in creamy sauces.

Bottle: "This wine is produced in our winery of Quinta do Seixo in the Douro region from the selected grapes varieties Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa and Tinta Barroca and aged in oak casks of 270 litres. Only the finest quality vintages are used in making Vinha Grande. With a ruby colour and an intense aroma of ripe fruit, this red wine is well balanced, very smooth and has an elegant, persistent finish."

Another 2000 vintage and one that may be easier to locate is the inimitable Tercius, which is a blend of the same three regional grape varieties (hence the name). Suffice to say that though I uncorked a bottle of it last spring before an increase in price sent it above the $20 mark, I would gladly pay this amount for such a remarkable wine.

Vila Nove de Gaia, Portugal. 13.5%.