Wines of Portugal 2010

Went to this today at Lord's, with net practice on the sunny Nursery Ground providing a truly spring-like backdrop. Fairly quiet when I arrived but was filling up by lunchtime. There were themed tables showcasing the Alvarinho, Touriga Nacional and Moscatel grape varieties. The Alvarinho was mostly from the north west - Vinho Verde and the Minho (non-DOP) region - but also some from Lisboa (the new name for Estremadura). The star Alvarinho for me was Quinta dos Loridos' 2008, with good minerality, highish acidity and a refreshingly low 12.5% abv.

Of the Touriga Nacionals, the Pedra Cancela 2008 stood out - dark ruby coloured with ripe red fruit flavours (raspberries with some violet), fine, grippy tannins and fairly high acidity (pic below).

Sarah Ahmed did talks "every hour, on the hour" on various aspects of Portuguese wine. I saw one on the Dao and food matching. Sarah mentioned that the high tannin and acidity mix in the Dao makes for particularly good foody wines. She described the Dao as rugged and mountainous, with elevation ranging between 200m and 900m, large diurnal temperature variation and high rainfall which means vines build up good reserves for the dry, hot summers.

I am always impressed by Portuguese wines but they still account for less than 1% of the UK off trade wine market (and most of that is Mateus Rose!) The wine-drinking public has no real image of Portuguese wine (positive or negative) and the indigenous grape varieties are perceived as hard to get to grips with. Hopefully some of their generic marketing efforts will pay off and the public will wake up to what are increasingly impressive wines. The Douro is maybe the most exciting area, and probably has the best potential for branding, on the back of consumers' regognition of Port.

Port

Here is a summary of the essentials of port viticulture and production - to help me with my WSET Diploma fortifieds revision, but hopefully also of general interest!

Location

Grapes for port are grown in the Douro region of Portugal. The best plots are in the Cima Corgo, from the slopes around the village of Pinhao (see photo below). Lower quality grapes (e.g. for young ruby port) are grown in the Baixo Corgo to the west and the Douro Superior to the east, which stretches all the way to the Spanish border.


Climate

The climate in the Douro is hot continental and very dry, becoming increasingly so further inland. The hills of the Serra do Marao shelter the Douro from the Atlantic influence. Climatological hazards include sudden bursts of heavy rain which can cause erosion and damage terraces and hail in the summer and autumn which can damage crops. Lack of water is a constant problem - weeds are removed from vineyards to remove competition for water.

Viticulture

The soil is schist, which due to the steep slopes is formed into terraces. Vines are Guyot-pruned, wire-trained.

The older, narrower walled terraces known as socalcos are often only two rows wide and are planted densely (c. 6,000 vines/ha). Maintenance of the walls is costly and time-consuming and the narrow gauge means tractor access is not possible, which is why in the 1970s the terracing system known as patamares was introduced. This involved bulldozing wider terraces into the hillsides and replacing stone walls with ramps bound by vegetation. Vertical planting has also been introduced (known as vinha ao alto) to enable mechanisation.



(left, socalcos; right, patamares)


Many vineyards contain long-forgotten mixtures of indigenous grape varieties. Modern regulations permit around 20 grape varieties, the most important of which are:

Touriga Nacional - "quality" - the highest quality Douro grape, low yields, high colour and tannin, very aromatic.

Touriga Franca - lighter, softer, rounder, very perfumed though and good heat- and drought-tolerance

Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain) - "medium" (colour, tannin, concentration) but adds finesse, good length and good in cooler years

Tinta Barroca - "high" (colour, tannin, acid, mustweight); early-ripening, cooler sites

Tinta Cao - v low yields, but good for ageing

Quintas are classified into Categories A-E (A is best) using a complex points system which rates them according to 12 physical factors including vines, location, aspect, gradient, soil and shelter.

Vinification

Macerated vigorously for only 2 or 3 days, for a rapid extraction of colour and tannin. Traditionally this was done by foot-treading in large granite lagares.

Premium ports use foot treading (or the mechanical equivalent - the "robotic lagar" developed by Symingtons). Cheaper ports use a mixture of roto-vinifiers, vigorous pumping-over, thermo-vinification and (in decreasing numbers) autovinifiers.

Once the wine reaches 6-8% abv (with c. 90-100g/l sugar), it is fortified to interrupt fermentation. One part aguardente (77% abv) mixed with 4 parts wine to give c. 20% abv.

Ageing

Port can be either cask aged or bottle aged. Young ruby port is aged in large concrete or stainless steel vats (20-100,000 litres). Oak is used for more expensive ports, although never new oak.

Wood-matured ports - aged in wooden casks (or sometimes cement tanks) and are ready to drink straight after fining, filtration and bottling. E.g. tawny port (which is aged in wood for so long that it loses its colour and turns tawny).

Bottle-aged ports - aged for a short period in wood and bottled without filtration. May take 20-30 years to be ready to drink. E.g. vintage port.

Styles of Port

Ruby - spend less than a year in cask

Reserve Ruby - aged for up to 5 years, more flavour

White - skin contact, most released while young (made from white-skinned grapes such as Malvasia Fina, Gouveio, Mourisco)

Tawny:

- Fine - basic, can be blend of ruby and white
- Aged - oxidatively for c. 8 years in cask
- with Indicated Age - 10, 20, 30 or "over 40" - refers to a style
- Colheita - vintage

LBV - single year, 4-6 years in cask then cold-stabilised, filtered and bottled. Ready to drink on release, does not improve.

Traditional LBV - single year, but not cold-stabilised and filtered so will form a deposit and improve, although can be drunk on release

Crusted - blend of years, not cold-stabilised and filtered, ready to drink but will improve (fairly recent invention of Symingtons and others to appeal to vintage port market, although this is a blend of years)

Single Quinta Vintage - released in years when a full vintage not declared, to satisfy consumer demand for dated ports (although some producers only ever release sqv's)

Vintage - bottled within 2 years of vintage, ageing takes place in bottle

Beneficio

The beneficio is the annual authorisation of the amount of port that may be produced. Decided in July/August.

Tasting - the Port "Holy Trinity"

(1) sweet; (2) fortified to a high level; (3) high acidity (i.e. high sugar, high alcohol, high acid)

See also my post on fortified wine comparisons.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Wines of Portugal Tasting

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)