Portuguese Wines

My experience with Portugese table wines is a little limited. I do like Vintage Madeira and have a colection of it going well back into the

1800s. I like it better than Oporto. Fonseca's Moscatel de Setubal can be outstandng in the old vintage wines such as 1934 and the legendary Torna Viagem. The more recent non-vintage 25 year old is decent, but can only hint at what this wine can be. You should taste the legendary Colares if you get a chance. Recent vintages are not what they used to be and mature much faster than in the past. A young classic Colares was one of the darkest and most tannic red table wines you will find, and might require decades to become smooth. Prouction is extremely small. The top red table wine made in Portugal perhaps is Barca Velha made in the Douro by Ferreira. Production is very small, and it is extremely expensive and difficult to find in most countries. There is a whole new generation of fine Portugese reds in a variety of areas, but I have not had enough experience with these to comment.

Reply to snipped-for-privacy@cwdjr.net .

Sorry, but other than vinho verde (white, I know there's red vinho verde but seldom see) I just don't see enough in my local stores to be much help.

I've enjoyed a Douro red called Quinto do Crasto, which I think is made of Tinta Roriz (which I think is tempranillo?).

Welcome back to group. I'm going to my first tasting of Brazilian cabernets next week- top 3 wines of a winery called Miolo. Any comments?

DaleW escreveu:

Brazil has not a good climate to red wines, but some are fine. Best vintages are 1999, 2002 and 2005 is promising. Miolo has a good reputation, but I don't like their wines very much. I think good Miolos are overpriced compared to anything else you can buy. What will you be tasting? Miolo Reserva? Lote 43?

If you want to try the best from Brazil, try sparkling wines. Miolo's is also good.

Thanks for the comments.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 21:09:42 -0300, Andre quoth:

It can be difficult to find Portugese wines other than porto in much of the US. I like Portugese and Spanish wines a lot - they're a pretty good value and I bought many Douro reds when I lived in a big mainland city. Madiera and Douro reds are hard to find in a little town in Hawaii. I'd like to bring some back from Minneapolis next month, but they won't store well in the tropical soup we call "air" here.

bkr