Portugal is well known for Port. What about wine? The wine
reviewed here comes from the Alentejo region of
southeastern Portugal, not Port territory but in fact cork
territory. I haven't been able to determine for sure the
grapes of this 2007 vintage, but the 2004 vintage included
the following red grapes, presumably in order of volume
Aragonez (known in Spain as Tempranillo), Trincadeira, and
Castello. So we have a relatively undistinguished wine
region, and a blend involving two undistinguished grape
varieties. Do I smell a bargain?
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Vinho regional Alentejano Herdade das
Albernoas, 2007 14% alcohol about $8
Let's start by my sight translation of the marketing
materials. Clear red ruby color. A fairly strong nose with
strawberry aromas. The wine also evokes subtle exhalations
of fallen leaves. Discover this red wine's good acidity
embellished with silky tannins. You will taste prunes and
spices. It is supple and lightly persistent. And now for my
review.
The first meal involved beef stew that was slow cooked with
soft wheat kernels and merguez (a spicy lamb sausage)
accompanied by a dill pickle. The wine was mouth-filling
and showed great balance. It tasted of plums. It kept its
power in the presence of Turkish harissa, a spicy
condiment. I tasted some tobacco. The wine was moderately
long.
The second meal was a commercial shepherd's pie. This blend
was round and had great balance among acidity, tannins, and
fruit. Talking about balance; the wine did not seem overly
alcoholic in spite of the 14% level. It was fairly long.
Once again I particularly noticed plums and tobacco. By the
way, I am not a smoker nor really an ex-smoker. But I
happen to like a tobacco taste in wine.
The final meal was commercially prepared barbequed spare
ribs with string beans in tomato sauce and potatoes roasted
in chicken fat. I know that I'm repeating myself by saying,
round, mouth-filling and nicely acidic. The wine blended
quite well with the greasy potatoes. It cut the fat and had
no trouble meeting the harissa challenge.
I completed this wine tasting with two cheeses. The first
cheese was a yellow Cheddar. The wine retained its
qualities. It tasted rich when paired with Emmenthal
(Swiss) cheese.
Final verdict. I was very, very pleased with this wine at
such a price. As far as I'm concerned it competes well with
many wines at twice the price. I hope you get to taste it
for Christmas. (You could keep it for a year or so.) As I
was trying to pin down the grape varieties, I read a review
where the reviewer was so-so and said that his girl friend
refused to drink this wine. But I made sure to drink every
last drop in this bottle.
----------------------------------------------------
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and
Internet books, but frankly prefers drinking fine German or
other wine, accompanied by the right foods and the right
people. He teaches computer classes at an Ontario
French-language community college. Check out his wine
website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly
column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about
(theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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