Tags
colheita, dow, fonseca, grahams, oporto, port, quinta do vallado, ruby, tawny, wine spectator
Port is one of my favorite wines. Tawny, Ruby, Colheita or Vintage – I love them all. Especially with chocolate, dried apricots and nuts, my mouth is now watering! Fonseca, Taylor, Dow, Grahams, and Warres are the most recognized Port producers but don’t even cover half of the produces in Portugal.
Port has always been a combination of many different indigenous grapes from Portugal. A few of those are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Roriz, Tinto Borocca, Tinta Cao, and many many more. The still wine is made with grapes harvested in the fall with full sugars and then fortified with neutral grape spirit known as Aguardente in order to stop the fermentation, leaving residual sugar in the wine, and to boost the alcohol content.
Many folks enjoy OPorto, but many don’t know that Portugal also produces premium still red wine. Duoros, Touriga Nacionals, and Reservas are all produced by many of the Port producing wineries. Fabulous wines with unique flavors of mature black plum and red fruits, basalmic oak, and unique herbs of Portugal. These old mature fruit flavors comes from the “old vines”, many as old as 80 years, as well as the arid rocky soil these vines struggle to grow in.
In 1716 D. Antonia Adelaide Ferraira began the winery Quinta do Vallado and it is still owned by her family today. With vines as old as 80 years this port producing house also leads the still red wine industry in Portugal by producing high quality Duoro Reds, Touriga Nacionals and Reserva Reds. And in December 2009 received recognition from Wine Spectator for their quality Red Wine.
Quinta do Vallado Duoro Red received a 93pt rating in the Wine Spectator article. At under $25 retail this is an incredible value as well.
“Powerful and refined red from Portugal, with concentrated flavors plum, dried cherry and spice. Fine texture, with plenty of savory herbal notes, and a long olive- and smoke-filled finish. Drink now through 2015.” ~ December 2, 2009 – Wine Spectator
“Dense and concentrated flavors of wild plum, meat, kirsch and tobacco leaf fill this powerful red. Finegrained tannins fill the exuberantly fruity yet balanced finish. Minerally notes linger with plenty of chocolaty overtones. Drink now through 2016.” ~ December 2, 2009 – Wine Spectator
Quinta do Vallado Reserva Red received 96pts!
“This is rich, powerful and finely crafted, with layers of concentrated red plum, currant, blueberry and kirsch flavors. Silky tannins knit it seamlessly together. Elegant and refined finish is filled with mineral, smoke and spice. Drink now through 2016.” ~ December 2, 2009 – Wine Spectator
More information on this wine can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/yjrqswl