Tinto y Blanco » Douro Blend

Quinta do Crasto ‘Crasto’ 2007

Dave Worthington — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:05:51 +0000

After a couple of weeks of demolishing kitchens, sanding and polishing floorboards, fitting a new kitchen and a few other things, I’m back tasting again. So to kick things off I’ve got this entry level wine from the Douro valley in Portugal. Many of you will know that Dominic Morris is involved in the operations here and he has made a very tasty and highly drinkable wine from the excellent 2007 vintage.

A really refined nose, but it still has that rustic, earthy/sooty edge that is one of the trademarks of the Douro. Plums and blueberries, with a dash of cherry for good measure, a little choclate, violets and wild herbs too. Just about perfect balance in the mouth, the acid is right where you want it and it isn’t overpowered by the fruit at all. Lush, flesh tannins and bit of Tang crystals (the organge concentrate) on the finish. I’d almost call this medium boddied, but it tips the scales just over I think.. Excellent drinking and great value. 90 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $30 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other Vintages: 2006

Vallado 2007

Dave Worthington — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:10:53 +0000

The 2005 edition of this wine was, and still is, one of my favourite wines from the Douro Valley in Portugal. It had everything, balances, tons of flavour, only 13.5% alcohol, and seemingly higher than normal acid for red wine from the Douro. You could say it was atypical, but I think it gives us a look at what is possible. I skipped the 2006, I thought it showed to many green characters, but Jamie Goode has just written it up and gave it 90. Now this 2007 is more typical of the what is becoming the classic Douro red: around 14.5 % alc, warm fruit, and the acid takes a back seat…

This nose is spicy and full of fruit, thats not to say there isn’t some smokey minerals and orange peel on the nose too. Fluffy, fleshy tannins with the acid in the background for support on the finish. Kind of rounded, and easy to glug down. The palate is more blackberry, blueberry and plum with a nice minerality to it. A touch of coco too. Not a bad little wine, a bit lacking in the mid palate, but finishes convincingly. 90 Pts.

Web: www.quintadovallado.com

Other Vintages: 2005, 2005

Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage 2004

Dave Worthington — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:22:52 +0000

I’ve been a bit all over the shop the last couple of weeks and things have been very quiet on the new release front. I’ve just got back from a conference on the Gold Coast (AusCERT, an IT Security thing, boring for the most part) just in time for it to bucket down and flood the place. I did however get a good meal in at The Rice Paddy, a Vietnamese joint on the main strip of Surfers that delivers with some top class duck. Most of the importers all seem to be landing all of their new stuff over the next couple of weeks, so there should be plenty to look at.
Things are looking up a bit for imported wine at the moment, the exchange rate has improved and the frequency of shipping to Australia from southern Europe is getting back to normal. None of the rumoured tax changes were delivered in the federal budget however…
Anyway, I took a few bottles with me up to the Gold Coast, this little 375ml of LBV port was very handy. The nose opens up with red cherries, blueberry, violets, dusty rocks, coffee and a bit of spice. Warm and open in the mouth, there is a bit of grip to it with mild sweetness and some cleansing acid. Far from cloying, there are some interesting savoury elements that make this the perfect partner for fuller flavoured blue cheese. Perfect for cold rainy nights in the tropics. 88+ Pts

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $35 (375ml) Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.niepoort-vinhos.com

Altano 2003

Dave Worthington — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:19:39 +0000

This is a fairly cheap and very cheerful wine from the Symington group, who you might know as the makers of ports like Dows, Smith Woodhouse and Warres. A blend of Tinta Roriz (60%) and Touriga Franca (40%) from the hot 2003 vintage. As far as I can find out, there is no oak treatment here, and to be honest I don’t miss it at all.

Classic shisty nose of smoky, earthy and rocky fruit: a mix of red cherry, plum and blueberry. It’s gungho with plenty of ripe fruit and chewy tannins. More about a rollicking good time than brain busting thought. The palate shows sunny, but savoury fruit, plums and cherries, wild sage, hot river stones and musk sticks. This value here is outstanding, perfect autumn/winter drinking on a budget. 87 Pts.

Source: Negociants Australia RRP: $17 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.symington.com

Niepoort ‘Redoma’ Brancho 2007

Dave Worthington — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:18:42 +0000

Niepoort make some amazing red table wines, as well as some mind blowing ports, but I think it’s these Douro white wines that really show off Dirk Niepoort’s skills and that the Douro isn’t a hot region just for the production of fortified wines. Its made from a a blend of Rabigato, Codega, Donzelinho, Viosinho and Arinto from 40 year old vines up on the top of part of the Douro valley. The thing that really sucks me in with this wine is its calm, subtle and fresh nature. You could almost swear it was a village white burgundy going by the texture, length and mouthfeel. There is also a Reserva version from 100 year vines that I will have to track down.

A really fresh and vibrant nose of peach, apple with a touch of apricot kiwi. The thing that gets me here is the sence of purity and freshness the radiates from the wine, confident but reserved. Perfect weight in the mouth. The palate give up more white peach with some lanolin and lemon zest. A big long finish showing some minerally touches. This is excellent drinking now, looks like it would cellar as well. If you are going to look at only one Portuguese white this year, make this it. 92 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $55 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.niepoort-vinhos.com

meandro do vale meao 2006

Dave Worthington — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:35:14 +0000

As I mentioned the other week, this is the little brother to Quinta do Vale Meao. This one is a blend of 40% Touriga National, 30% Tinta Roriz, 20% Tinta Barroca, 10% Tinta Amarela. Now 2006 wasn’t the best vintage in the Douro, but this is a seriously good wine that is a great introduction to what Douro table wine is all about.

The nose comes on strong from the start: cherry and cranberry with some hot cinnamon and smokey, earthy rocks. Structured and textured in the mouth, velvety smooth with good length and acid. It’s quite a full on wine, full bodied but with the structure and restraint to gain and hold your interest. This wine swamps your palate with more red fruits, a bit of beef stock and plenty of minerals. Very enjoyable and an ideal intro to what the Douro can do. These guys make a stunning Vintage Port too. 91+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $50 Closure: Conventional Cork

Quinta do Vale Meão 2005

Dave Worthington — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:00:12 +0000

I’ve been thinking about my favourite wines of the year over the past couple of weeks, and this features towards the top of the list. Considering that many of these top end portugese wines have only been available in Australia for 12 months or so, they have gained huge popularity and a loyal following with wine drinkers around Australia. This wine is at the top of the heap for me.

Quinta do Vale Meao is the top table wine here, with Meandro de Vale Meao being the ‘entry level’ wine. What really enhances the complexity here is the different soil types on the Quinta, while it is all what would generally called schist, areas of slate, granite and alluvial gravel show very different characters in the resulting fruit. The high percentage of Touriga National (60%) also helps a lot. The remaining 40% is 20% Touriga Franca, 15% Tinta Roriz, 5% Tinta Barroca.

A really engaging nose of gun smoke, violets and wild flowers, blackberry, dark cherry and mulberry, wild herbs and hot tarmac. In the mouth it feels quite rounded at the start, gaining more more focus as it gets more air. Well textured with supple tannins, plenty of them too. Juicy and meaty, but smooth and very complex. Rocky/stoney minerals, cherry, blueberry and plum on the palate with plenty of complexity thanks to some spices, wild herbs and liquorice. An excellent wine, decant it for a bit to sharpen things up. The ageing is a question that is difficult to answer for these douro reds, they have only been around for 10 years or so, but this looks like it will improve over the short term, then go 15 years standing on it’s head. 96+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $140 Closure: Conventional Cork

Van Zellers Douro 2005

Dave Worthington — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:27:33 +0000

This is a project from Christiano van Zellar of Quinta do Vale Dona Maria, a field blend red wine from the Douro that uses grapes from outside Quinta. That’s about all I know, a quick bit of work on google didn’t really show up much except for a couple of good scores from TWA and WS for the 2004.

These mid-priced Douro seem to be were it’s at, I think you get the best expression for the price at around $40-60, with good value at the low end. The top end wines, while outstanding, are starting to get up there in price ($170 for the Meao top bottling, the new Vallado super deluxe job will come in over $300 here if it’s imported). It’s not that they aren’t great wines…

That classic sooty, rocky shist note kicks things off on the nose followed by some juicy plum, blueberry and cherry with a bit a clove pepper. The acid level is quite high for a Douro red and gives a good balance to the meaty, flesh tannins. Savoury and flavour packed on the palate: plums and cherry, with a touch of rosella with subtle christmas cake spices and a mineral crunch. A generous long finish. Very moreish in this cold weather. 91 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $55 Closure: Conventional Cork

Niepoort LBV 2003

Dave Worthington — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:00:49 +0000

After a week off from drinking, I thought I’d ease myself back into tasting with a bottle of port and some blue cheese on Sunday afternoon. The cheese is Valdeon, made in the Picos de Europa areas of Léon and Asturias from mostly cows milk, with a little bit of goat for tang. It’s fairly punchy, but still quite creamy. It goes well with the quince paste and port, so I’m a happy chap.

One thing I’ve noticed around town is how much the price of these imported cheeses vary a lot. I buy most of my Spanish stuff from Casa Iberica (25 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, (03) 9419 4420) and just about everything is half the price of the ‘gourmet’ stores around Melbourne (i.e. Valdeon is $38/kilo at Casa Iberica and $70 from the Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder cheese club).

Very dark in the glass with aromas of clove, pepper, nutmeg, dark cherry and plum with a bit of shisty rock. Dense and intense in the mouth, a mix of sweet and savoury that I pick up in a lot of Niepoort’s wines. The palate shows more dark cherry, rosella and plum with Dr. Pepper, christmas cake spices and a touch of chinoto on the finish. I think this may need some chill out time in the cellar (it’s not filtered, so it will improve) to show its best. 88+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $48 (750ml) Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.niepoort-vinhos.com

Quinta D.Vale Maria Vintage Port 2005

Dave Worthington — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:09:05 +0000

Vintage Port is one of my favourite wine styles, but I don’t always want to wait 15 years for them to really show their stuff. I drank this over a week and was very impressed with how drinkable this wine is now and how much the wine improved dramatically each night. You can definitely drink this now and get huge enjoyment out of it.

Browsing through their website I noticed that they don’t make a lot of this wine, just 9,400 bottles of the 03 were made. I think I will need a six pack for the cellar, hopefully there is enough to go around.

A smooth, exotic nose of plum, dark cherry, star anise, rosella, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg with a hint of spirit in the background. The palate is open with Class A, Export Quality tannins the provide a luxurious mouth feel. Some mild sweetness and some acid to back it all up. Warm blackcurrant, plum and cherry fruit with cola and more star anise. Very minerally. The finish is very generous and leaves the taste of Christmas cake spices and plum pudding in the mouth. This is very enjoyable now, and had me reaching for a second glass every time. Drink over the next 2 years, then cellar for 10 after that. 93 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $115 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.valedonamaria.com

Niepoort Ruby Port

Dave Worthington — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:10:26 +0000

Ruby Port is considered to be the lowest level of the Port tree, but there are some good ones out there. Its called ruby port because it is usually stored in a way that prevents oxygen contact, and therefore keeps its colour better than a tawny port which is aged in oak. The result is generally a very sweet wine that has very dark, almost black, colour and plenty of fruit character.

However, the the chaps at Niepoort have decided to use very large wooden vats for their ruby port. So this wine gets a bit of oxygen contact, but still retains a very deep red colour. It stays in the vats for about 3 years, then into bottle and then its off around the world.

Its starts of with a nose of spirity blackberry and dark cherry and adds some Christmas cake spices and nuts. In the mouth it’s smooth and quite long with a hit of quality spirit. Loads of dark cherry on the palate with some blackberry and blackcurrant, more spices and a touch of minerals. Plenty to like hear, and very cheap for what it is. 88 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $30 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.niepoort-vinhos.com

Quinta Vale D. Maria LBV 2003

Dave Worthington — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:00:23 +0000

It feels like winter has come early in Melbourne this year, the mornings are bellow 5 degrees and the nights are cold. Not that its a bad thing, its perfect port weather.

This LBV is made from Tinta Amarela, Rufete, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa, Touriga Nacional, and Sousão. The fruit is crushed by trodding in the traditional lagares. Then into old woodern vats for 4 years until it’s bottled. This wine is not filtered and will have a bit of a crust. So decant if that bothers you. This gets a bit better if you leave it open for a few days too.

Lovely nose of walnut and clove with some plum and cherry pie, notes of fine spirit. Smooth with some grippy tannins in the mouth, restrained sweetness, good integration of fruit and spirit and a very long finish. The palate is all class: sweet plums and blackberry, pepper and cinnamon, liquorice and chinotto. A good way to kick off the port drinking season without blowing the budget. 91 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $36 (375ml) Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.valedonamaria.com

Quinta do Noval Maria Mansa 2005

Dave Worthington — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:02:19 +0000

I spent saturday diving in and out of air condition spaces, hopefully we'll get some relief later this week. I dropped over to a mate's place for long overdue catchup on Saturday night. Thankfully he has air con, so it was quite comfortable to sit back with a couple of reds. I have a stack of good wines on the way (Mostly 05s: Clos Mogador, Numanthia, Flor de Pingus, with Roda 04s being released soon too), but I won't get the them until after Easter I think, its just too hot. Anyway this went down well.

A fairly straight forward, but quality Douro red, aromas of plum, mulberry and cherry with pepper and clove. Warm and inviting in the mouth, a bit rustic with big, soft tannins and a lick of acid on the finish. The palate is more toward the plum end of things, but also shows cherry and mulberry with some earth and clove. Very enjoyable, it would do well with a good lamb dish. 88 Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars Price: $33 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.quintadonoval.com

Cedro do Noval 2004

Dave Worthington — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:00:33 +0000

If you've ever had even a passing interest in Port, you will have heard of Quinta do Noval. This most be one of the most iconic Port houses going and they are now making table wine in the Douro. They have come a bit later to the game than many, but the wines are bloody good. This is the second wine and its a winner, friendly, plenty of Douro character and it doesn't break the bank. Well packaged too.

The nose starts off with something that I'm calling schisty: soot, hot rocks and earth along with some clove, sweet plum, cherry and pepper. Well balanced and smooth with supple tannins and loads of minerals on the finish. There is some great savoury fruit on the palate plums, cherries and rosella mixed in with some chocolate, pepper and minerals. Its a bit meaty, but very stylish. As is usual for Portuguese wines, acid is more of a supporting player, but here it plays its part well. An excellent addition to the growing range of Douro reds available in Australia. 91 Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars Price: $44 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.quintadonoval.com

Quinta do Vallado 2005

Dave Worthington — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:26:27 +0000

I had a bottle of this wine back in September, at the time I loved the nose but thought the palate was a bit flat. This time around I had the wine in a blind line-up of 3 bottles to see if anything had changed. This is my note and score from the tasting.

Deep red with a purple tint. Aromas of burnt rocks, coffee, violets and plums, pepper and spice. Sars and rosella fruit(hibiscus flower). Sweet, ripe fruit with plenty of pepper. Plum and cherry, chistmas cake spices. Light, fluffy tannins, a lick of good acid. Quite tight and focused, a bit pez on the finish. 91 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $35 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.quintadovallado.com

Other Vintages: 2005