This took place at Lord's Cricket Ground yesterday. I am always pleasantly surprised by Portuguese wines, although they have a tough time in the UK market, especially in the on-trade which often finds it hard to find a home for them. This is probably due in part to our newfound love of varietal labelling - Portugal's myriad indigenous varietals (350 apparently, of which around 50 are in regular use) are not very consumer-friendly.
One producer which is managing to make impressive headway is Casa Santos Lima, a family business from just north of Lisbon. An impressive 95% of production is exported (over 3 million bottles annually). Their Arinto, Syrah and Palha-Canas were particularly good for the money.
Other highlights were:
Luis Soares Duarte Perfil Reserva 2005 - indigenous varietals, ruby coloured with concentrated fruit from low yielding old vines (unrepresented in UK)
Wine&Soul Guru White 2007 - an oaked white, also old vines, with a lively zing to it (Corney & Barrow)
Wine & Joy (Quinta da Falorca) - whole range was good, with particularly well-priced entry-level wines (armit)
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
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