The penultimate Teddington Wine Society gathering of 2023 took us to Portugal, specifically the wines of some lesser known regions, and it was a huge success.
Our first two whites were from a fairly well known area – Vinho Verde (which Tim pronounced very cautiously as there were Portugese native speakers in the room!). Two Alvarinho wines, both excellent but the Soalheiro 2020 Reserva was double the price of the Quinta do Azevedo 2021 Reserva, so it came down to personal preference between them!
The Branco 2021 from Tras-O-Montes was made from 25 grape varieties (Verdelho, Malvasia, Arinto, Bastardo Branco to name but four), all grown together in the same long established vineyard, fermented using wild yeasts in old barrels, and neither fined nor filtered. Definitely on the ‘natural’ side of winemaking, with somewhat cidery flavours – rather popular.
Also ‘natural’ was the Pet Nat fizzy wine made by Maria Pato, daughter of Luís Pato, who pretty. much put Bairrada, to the north of Lisboa, on the wine map. Rather divided the room, we had to work hard to transport ourselves mentally to a hot place where its super dry raspberry flavours would be refreshing.
Three lovely reds followed, a Tempranillo dominated blend from Beira Interior, Vinho Regional from Lisboa made from 50 year old Castelão vines and a Vinha Regional from the Alentejano made from Tempranillo, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga Nacional. The last was too powerful and tannic to go with the Comté cheese that followed our lasagne, but all three were excellent.
We finished with a Moscatel de Setúbal, from the Setúbal peninsula to the south of Lisbon. A famous wine in Portugal, it was brass in colour, with aromas of lychees, tangerines and apricot jam and a rich sweet palate. Rather a nice wine for Christmas, but that tasting is to follow….
Details of the wines are on the Wines we have tasted page.
