It is not terribly common to find a rose made from popular red grapes from the Douro Valley like Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, but Quinta do Tedo did just that with their rose blend.
This one hits on all the notes we love in a good rose, with a nice balance between fruit and floral notes all around. Not bad at all for its reasonable price point!
During our travels around Portugal, we had two kinds of red wines. The first was intense, hot climate reds that were loaded with tannin and out of balance with the other flavor characteristics. The second had the same intensity but managed to find the perfect balance to make them enjoyable.
Quinta do Portal's Grande Reserva was most certainly the latter. This wine sings.
Muga Rioja Reserva is an aged Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain, that has an intense and wonderfully complex aroma and flavor profile.
Unfortunately, this one was pretty strong in the vegetal and earthy department which, for me at least, was a bit too much for my palate.
It is always a good day when you can crack open a port, and it is an exceptionally good day when that port is worth every penny you paid for it.
Warre's LBV 2002 was just that.
This one is a blend of many grapes including Tinta Cao, Tinta Francisca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), and Tinta Barroca and offered a delightful balance of fruit and tertiary flavors all at a rather respectable price point considering its age.
If you like high acid, low tannin reds that have some delicious red fruit notes that open up to darker fruit (especially with meat-based dishes), you definitely should give the Els Vineryons Saltamarti a try.
This Tempranillo and Garnacha blend will have what you seek in an easy-drinking format.
Partida Creus is an interesting winery in Catalunya, Spain, that is run by Italians and uses grapes acquired from old and sometimes abandoned vineyards. These are then farmed organically and produce some seriously delicious natural blends.
Vinel-lo, denoted VN, is a red field blend of six different grapes in various quantities- specifically Grenache, Mourvedre, Tempranillo, Sumoll, Trepat, and Cinsaut. As wines from Partida Creus have initials in a rather recognizable format on the label, it should be noted that they have VN bottles for red (this review), white, and even sparkling- so you may come across any of these if you are simply searching out “Partida Creus VN”.
So, what is the red blend like? Well, this one had a nice complex aroma and was relatively straightforward on the palate.
The Fableist Cabernet Sauvignon is not a pure bottle of Cab, but is in fact comprised of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and balanced with Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Tempranillo.
We opened this one for a steak pairing thinking we'd have a pronounced acid and tannin fruit bomb, but instead found something a bit more nuanced. Good for what we were tasting, but perhaps not the best for the particular pairing.
