Wine Testament

I’ve heard great things about Portugal. In fact, my mother keeps bringing up the idea of taking a trip there in the coming year.

I hope I get the invite.

Feel free to give my mom a nudge if you bump into her at a Mahjong table. Her name is Colleen Jones.

Portugal: Spain’s neighbor, great country for Soccer, and I heard that the US dollar goes a long way there.

I don’t know much beyond that…..it sounds like I need to get curious.

When looking at a map it looks like Portugal and Spain had dinner and Portugal said “Look you can have your corner, and we will have ours”. Then Spain countered and said “We will take most of the land, and we’ll give you this section by the coast”. “Deal” Portugal says as they shake hands.

I won’t get into this history of Portugal and Spain….. Let’s keep this focused on Wine.

Wine from Portugal. It’s easy to get lost.

Here’s the thing: It’s not the typical grapes you’re familiar with.

The top 5 grapes are:

1. Fernao Pires (also goes by Maria Gomes)- White Grape
2. Touriga Nacional- Red grape
3. Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo, but Portugal’s name for it)- Red Grape
4. Albarino- White Grape
5. Arinto- White Grape

Here’s what I DO know:

• Port Wine comes from here
• Wines from Vinho Verde (Northwest Portugal) are light.
  • They range from 9-12% ABV. That’s light! Napa Cab’s are 15-16% for reference.
  • I could probably drink a bottle of this with Lunch and not even need a nap afterwards….
• If there is one grape from Portugal to know, Touriga Nacional would be it.

Let’s talk Touriga Nacional

Touriga Nacional is pronounced “too-REE-gah  nah-see-oh-NAL”.

The key is making “Nacional” sound like a fancy version of “National”.

 If you’d like extra credit you can try and say it as they do in Portugese. You would make the final L sound almost like a W.

Origin: Native to Portugal, especially the Dao and Douro regions.

Wine types Produced:

• Port Wines
  • This grape is central to the making of Vintage Port Wines.
• Red Wines
• Rose Wines

Grape characteristics: Deep color, High tannins, Concentrated Flavors. Grows well in hot, dry conditions. I picture rocky, steep vineyards where I would need to apply sunscreen every 45 minutes.

Color: Deep color, nearly purple.

Aromas: Dark fruits (Blackberry, plum, blueberry), Violets, Herbs & Spice(Mint, rosemary, pepper). The violets really sticks out to me.

Flavors: Generally full bodied, this is the Napa Cab of Portugal, but not as round and fruity. High Tannins, vibrant acidity.

Aging Potential: Supposedly very strong. And I feel like you could open this, put in the fridge and it would still be good in a week.

What I drank this week: An Unoaked version of this wine. The wine was called “A Touriga Vai Nua” which translates to “The Touriga goes Naked”.

I picked this bottle up for $27 from my local wine shop. This wine tasted exactly like a thought it would: Bright aciditiy, dark fruit, where’s the……oak? Oh that’s right, that’s the point. It also had that “Natural wine” taste I’ve learn to notice.

Overall, great wine and I’m glad I bought it to experience this varietal.

Here’s a link with more info on the wine: https://www.oleobrigado.com/wine/2037-a-touriga-vai-nua

If you want some of the best value wines in the world. Buy some wine from Portugal! You’ll notice that most wines are under $30. In fact a bottle in the $15-$25 range could be the equivalent quality of a California wine in the $30-$50 range.

See you next time. Hopefully I gave you something to swirl on.

-Connor