Tasting - Muxagat, Douro Branco 2004

Well...Saturday night and time to go out for dinner with some friends!
Once again, a typical Portuguese dish...Codfish. :)
For me, Codfish can be appreciated both with red and white wine, so this time we decided to taste a white wine called Muxagat 2004.
This wine, Douro Superior, made with rabigato, codêga and viosinho, 13% vol, with a nice yellow-straw, golden colour, excelent nose, very aromatic with lemon, honey, also some smoked notes and with a elegant cask background also. Once on the mouth, very fresh, balanced, nice acidity and again elegant and well integrated wood, showing a nice barrel work.
With a persistent and equilibrated finale, makes a very nice set!
Drink now or wait a while. 84 pts.

Tasting - Quinta da Castaínça, Grande Escolha Douro Red 2003

It's a blend wine, Touriga Nacional 60%, Touriga Franca 30% and Sousão 10%, fermented in Lagar and aged 12 months in French oak. With dark colour, this wine shows a intense floral aroma, very typical from Touriga, with some red fruit. In the mouth has a light fruit and a intense mark from oak. Not a well balanced wine and missing some concentration/structure typical from a reserve wine. Medium finish. € 14. 78 pts

Tasting – Meandro, Douro Red 2005

This wine, the second brand of the famous Quinta do Vale Meão in the Douro Superior, reached the 64th on the 2007’s top 100 Wine Spectator with 91 pts. Made from 5 grape varieties, 40% Tinta Roriz, 25% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca, 5% Tinta Barroca & 5% Tinta Amarela. The crush was done in lagar and the fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Aged in oak barrels of 2 and 3 years until the bottling in June 2007.
Dark and concentrated colour. Very lovely nose, floral, rosemary, black berries, resin with some hints of smoke and tobacco. Shows all of its youth on the palate, full bodied, powerful flavours of cassis, mint and ripe fruit. The tannins still aggressive, but the good acidity with a pleasing structure backup, gives it a promising future. Medium/Long finish with layers of dark chocolate and spice. Superb QPR! I’ll buy some more of these for sure. €10, 90 pts

Tasting – Domaine des Epinaudières, Coteaux du Layon 2002

Yesterday, to combine with one of my favourite dishes, cod fish with potatoes, I was looking for a white wine. As I don’t have much white wine at the cellar, I caught the first that appeared. When dropped it in the glass, said to myself... “damn it’s gone! It showed a golden colour… Tasted, “humm… but…this is a sweet wine!!!” Then, I picked the lap top and googled “Coteaux du Layon”…I didn’t know that “Coteaux du Layon” is an appellation of the Loire Valley, known for producing sweet wine, kind Sauternes but using 100% grapes from Chenin Blanc. Not very expressive on the nose, freshness, orange, peach with a slight sensation of vanilla. Much more complex and intense mouth feel, very sweet, tropical, apricot, honey, and caramel with elegance. Interesting wine! Well... an unexpected surprise but not good with cod fish:) My father told me later that this wine was offered by the owner, when he visited Portugal to see how corks are made...91 pts

Tasting – Churchill’s, Douro Red 2000

Tonight, with a home-made chicken in the hoven, I decided to taste one of Churchill Graham´s first table red wine, the Churchill´s 2000. Made from Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional, with 12% of alcohol content.
This wine said hello to me showing a clean colour with some brown shades, a little bit oxidated and not very deep but slowly sliding down through the side of the glass...
On the nose, mineral notes, also some oak and well rippen fruit making a elegant and complex aroma even if not too expressive. On the mouth I could find a surprising freshness, probably due to the good acidity and firm tanins, but well matured with a good atack and finishing with some bitterness without being unpleasant. A nice wine to drink, but not one of those to save for a special ocasion. Drink it now. 75 pts

Tasting - Alvarinho Deu la Deu 2006

Tasted this wine with my parents... it's always a nice experience to taste with them... my father, working in the Port wine blending for 45 years has a lot to teach... and my mother, who insists knowing nothing about wines, has always something funny to say :) This is one of my favourite Alvarinho... a variety that nowadays is spread all over Portugal but that used to exclusive of a sub-region of the Vinho Verde wine region called Monçao & Melgaço. And that's where this Deu la Deu is made. 2006 harvest... showing very well right now but I must get a couple of bottles to save and retaste in a few years from now... It has a good yellow citric colour with some gold hints. Fantastic the intensity in the nose where we find citric fruis, lime and apple mostly, some tropical aromas (passion fruit, pear), balanced with a sublime vegetal and floral character... The mouth shows us a very well structured wine but not heavy... it has a delicious acidity making it fresh, really fresh. It ends with some hints of minerality a lot of fruit. The aftertaste is pleasent being not to long.... Another very good sample of this kind of wines... very good with codfish... and in a cold, rainy, winter night... Isn't that a surprise? 86 Points

Tasting - Redoma, Reserva Douro White 2005

Made by Niepoort, a house with good quality in Douro and Port wines, from very old vineyards, fermented and aged in french oaks, it's a wine with a light gold colour. The nose is intense, with mineral notes and well matured fruit. The palate is complete: good acidity, fruit, mineral notes and a strong cream flavour. Has a very long finish. Excellent wine. €35, 95 Pts

Tasting – Chateau du Coy, Sauternes 2002

To start the year in style, beside a heavy headache, I decided to open a bottle of Sauternes, bought in Bordeaux in 2006, to join a little piece of fois gras. I really enjoy this kind of wines and like some Ports, I think they’re more than just simple “dessert wines”. The 2002’s vintage was not one of the best of Sauternes and the Chateau du Coy is not one of the top labels in the region, however it gave me a great pleasure to drink it. Made from 80% Sémillon, 10% Muscadelle and 10% Sauvignon Blanc aged 18 months in oak. Yellow golden colour, very nice nose, loads of honey, lemon peel, pineapple, mango, caramel. Less complexity on the palate but very smooth. Medium bodied, viscous, banana and mango again. Short/medium finish. Nice stuff for the price range. Happy 2008! €18, 88 pts

Reveillon 2007/2008

I don't think anyone can make a decent evaluation in a night like the one we had last Monday (until Tuesday morning almost) in Quinta do Rio. A very nice place with something like 150 persons willing to welcome the New Year with fun, nice music, good environment... About the wines there was nothing really special but the Planalto Reserva 2005 was very well with the codfish. However, the biggest surprise for me was the Esteva 2003 (i'm not a particular found of this Douro famouse wine) witch showed very very well... and that was a surprise for me...
They were the beginning of a tremendous party.... but well... Ballantine's 12Y and JB 15Y don't allow me to publish anything more about the night.... the thing that I know is that I really enjoyed it :)
Have a good 2008.... to the Quinta do Rio reveillon... 100 Points :)

Quinta da Alorna Colheita Tardia 2001

This was the last wine served on a very nice dinner, well, sort of dinner, the 4 of us had last Sunday... and it was general the idea of disapointment...
Made with Fernao Pires white grapes, a portuguese typical variety and aged for 12 months in french oak barrels. It showed nice gold colour. The aroma was quite simple and sweet, with lack of fruit and excess of wood. In the mouth I felt it a bit plane with lack of freshness and acidity... it looks much more a usual sweet wine than a late harvest. Maybe the right time has already gone...
Portuguese late harvest aren't still very usual and this example shows that we have a long way to make if we want to do them as the best do.... 67 pts