PORTUGAL, Best Wines, Best Values
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2023
- In this video, Bob Paulinski, Master of Wine discusses the wines of Portugal. The video is packed with info about Portuguese wine. Portugal represents some of the world’s best wine values. If you haven’t explored it, you’re missing out.
I recently traveled to there to be a judge at the Wine of Portugal Challenge and to visit the wine country.
This video also captures one of the top winery visits of my life.
Lastly, I’ll include some of the other wine/food related experiences along the way. And the back part of this video, I’ll discuss some of my favorite Portuguese wine producers, along with the top award winners from the wine competition.
Some competitions are marketing machines, with this one less than 10% of the entries won gold medals. Most judges were from the Portuguese wine trade, including many winemakers. The international judges included many somms, some writers and few others connected to the trade of Portuguese wine. The range of styles is broad, often unlike anything else in the world, the average quality is very good and often the pricing is crazy affordable.
At the Masterclasses, there was plenty of talk of regions, grape varieties, winemaking techniques and so on. A major point of difference with the rest of the world is the strong presence of indigenous varieties, over 97% of what is produced there. Every region in Portugal produces wine to varying degrees. Places like the Douro and Dao, get a good deal of attention, but the reach goes well beyond that. Aside from the vast range of grape varieties, the terrain varies greatly as well from long stretches of coastal maritime influenced to inland, often mountainous continental climates.
Then is was off to one of Portugal’s lesser known wine regions. A four-hour bus journey on lightly traveled rural roads, until arriving in the Beira Interior. The region is split into three sub regions, the further north one goes, the higher the altitude.
The visit to Beyra and chief winemaker Rui Roberedo Madiera, this one ranks as one of the most interesting wineries that I’ve ever visited. Uber quality minded, high altitude vineyards, old vines, very low yields, no irrigation, indigenous grape varieties, native yeasts, judicious oak use, wines with an artisanal presence.
I’ve visited 100s of wineries over the year, they can start to look the same, but not this one. Sure, this one had the commonly found modern winemaking equipment, but I liked how the wines are not made by formula, they reflect the individual vintage, vineyard and grape variety.
Time for a quick vineyard visit, as is the case with most top-notch wines, they are made in the vineyards. Here is a 145 year old wind swept vineyard, one of the oldest vineyards that I’ve visited, planted to a field blend, a common practice from years ago. The yields are extremely low, often under two tons per acre. It’s like a living museum.
The terrain is rolling, the vegetation is scrubby and wind is constant. This is an ideal environment for low vineyard yield wine production, often one of the key factors of elevated wine quality. Combined with indigenous grape varieties and non-intrusive winemaking, it set up well for a good result.
The panoramic views kept coming around nearly each twist and turn of the road, until we arrived at Quinta do Cardo.
After a quick glass of sparkling, it was time to jump into a two-meter-deep ditch freshly cut into the vineyard. It was done to show soil structure and the depth of the vine rootstock. This is largely a dry place, with no irrigation, the vine roots must go deep for water and nutrients.
Later was about wine and regional foods out in the vineyards. The very young kid goats were roasted in an old stone oven for several hours.
This eye chart captures my final results from the competition, but my recommendations to you go beyond the wine competition. These are wine sources that bring very good quality for the money. Some get good international distribution; others will be more hit or miss. If you can’t find the wine producer, I suggest at the very least you search out some of the Portuguese grape varieties that I mentioned.
Casa Santos Lima and Sogrape
Villa Oliveira DAO
Quinta do Crasto
Post Scriptum is another excellent value getting good international distribution.
Best of the Year - Quinta Nova Vinha Centenária Ref P29/P21, 2019 - Douro
Best Fortified - Henriques & Henriques Sercial, 2001, Madeira
Best Red Varietal - Quinta do Crasto Touriga Franca, 2018, Douro
Best White Varietal - Villa Oliveira Encruzado, 2020, Dão
Best Red Wine (Blend) - Quinta Nova Vinha Centenária Ref P29/P21, 2019, Douro
Best White Wine (Blend) - Quinta da Rede Grande Reserva, 2019 Douro
Best Sparkling - Casa de Santar Vinha dos Amores Espumante Touriga Nacional, 2016, Dão
The complete list of award winners is at at: concursovinhosdeportugal.pt/
#winetasting #portugal #portuguesewine #wildlife #wset #masterofwine
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If you're looking for more info on Portuguese wine, click here. th-cam.com/video/vdjyPAdBlMM/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the information- I moved to Portugal Feb 2023
Wonderful place. Congrats! 🍷
@acal1976. Congratulations on your move to Portugal. That’s 1 of 3 countries I’m looking to move to in 2 years. I’ll be visiting in 6 weeks. I know it’s a crazy question to ask but what is the average mid range price for wines? I like reds. Not too dry or super sweet? Thanks in advance. We’ll be staying at the Moxy Hotel, which is about 12-15 minutes from the airport.
@@natoshasutton4538 The Moxy Orient Hotel is my favorite everytime I'm in Lisbon-- close to airport, metro and train station.. I am paying 7€- 12€ for reds - Wine is good over here !!! Enjoy
@natoshasutton4538 I spend 7€-12€ on a good red wine... I also like reds, not too dry and not sweet.... cheers
Fan-tas-tic video! Think it takes a lot of time to make such a video. Thanks a lot!
Thank you. This video had a lot of moving pieces! Cheers. 🍷
Lisbon is tied with Naples for my favourite vacations I've had in recent years. Just having a nice lunch in the park with a bottle of wine and port and some great cheeses and olives, and then later in the evening still being able to sit down at a nice restaurant and having a good meal with local wines is just so hard to beat.
Haha! Funny thing, next week I’m off to Naples.
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 Hope you'll enjoy. Friendly people & good food. No where else you can buy such quality pizza for 5 euros!🍕
@@HALLOJUMBOw Sounds like I better get serious about a diet when I return!
Stellar. Just amazing. I love Portuguese wines. The first wine dinner I did was pairing Portuguese dishes and wines. Just fantastic wines.
Hi Carl, glad to see you approve! Maybe the top wine values in the world. 🍷
Great video. Portugal was a planned trip a month before Covid shut everything down. After this video, it's definitely back on my list.
Thank you Ken. It should be on your list. I want to go back again, more time in Lisbon, then maybe heading south. 🍷
Very interesting. Thanks for posting, I hope it is a great trip.
Thanks Matthew, it was a great trip, even with the flight delays.
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 Glad to hear. Arline travel is rarely enjoyable, but it's nice when it's wroth it anyway.
@@matthewbykowski2353 Unfortunately issues with air travel has often become the norm.
Great video ❤
Thank you!
Absolutely fantastic video. Loved the recommendations for quality producers, Portuguese wine is hard to find in Ohio
Thank you Zachary, finding Portuguese wines can sometimes be challenging, but the US distribution is improving.
Great video Bob! We are headed to Portugal in late July so this is very helpful information.
Hi Tom, thanks for the good word. You’ll have a great time. 🍷
So glad to hear that you had such a great trip in Portugal, and are helping to spread the word about the great finds available in Portuguese wines. I'll put a number of your top picks on my list. I'm looking forward to trying some of these out. Quinta do Crasto always produces good stuff.
I can’t wait to go back again. I’ve long been a fan of Portuguese wine, but now I’m an advocate, trying to spread the word. 🍷
Thanks for this great video! I'll maybe be travelling through Portugal in summer and would love to add some vineyard visits to the itinerary.
PS. Drinking a white Mercurey, in an attempt to find value in Burgundy. This was not amazing, though.
Thanks for the good word. I’d go back to Portugal in a heartbeat. If you get the chance, do it. As for value in White Burgundy, I’ve long been a fan of Montagny.
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 Thanks for the tip! I picked up a Montagny 1er Cru "Les Jardins" from Charton-Vachet earlier today. Looking forward to opening it. As a bonus the wine store happened to have free tasting of 45 French wines today. Lucky me!
@@mikaelplaysguitar Let me know your thoughts on the wine. Wine tasting bonus! 👍
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 Will do!
I'll be visiting Portugal in a few months or early next year. I look fwd to its wines and to visiting some of those lovely wineries. Great video. Cheers!
Hi Pablo, late summer/early fall in Portugal should be very good. Thanks for the good word on the video. Cheers!
Hi Bob, great video! I like that you also showed a bit of the food you enjoyed your wine with. You got me curious with the cement tanks. What's the difference in taste, if there is any, with the stainless steel ones? Many thanks
The concrete tanks are inert, lined with an epoxy interior. They function much like stainless steel but a lower cost and better efficiency in terms of space. The concrete eggs allow for a tiny amount of oxygen uptake. The resulting wines tend to have more structure and heft. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
I've picked up a Portuguese red blend from Costco at $6.89 and it's a steal.
The deals from Portugal are plenty! 🍷
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 Coutada Velha Tinto 2020 and thanks for another great video
@@jcleer1 That's a bargain. Glad to hear you liked the video.
Great video. I just got back from Portugal myself- I think we might have been there at the same time! Like you, I got to enjoy some great food and wine (though not as much wine as you). One amazing region that I got to see is Colares- which is close to Lisbon. The vineyards are planted on sand and vines are low to the ground, old, twisted, and ungrafted. The wines are powerful and very mineral. I found a perfectly intact Colares from 1969 at a local shop that was fantastic. The barrel room at the local cooperative is amazing to see. Thanks for the great content!
Thanks for the good word on the video. Colares was on my to do list, but it didn’t happen on this trip. It gives me another reason to go back! It’s good you were able to try some older wines. The diversity of styles is very interesting. The same grape types from wines made in a similar manner, but from differing regions often have significant variation in style.
And those vines in Colares survived the filoxera in the 19th century, that destroyed much of the other vineyards, due to having the roots deeper, safe from the insects. While the other vines had to be grafted, the ones in Colares remain genetically pure
Colares is the smallest wine region in Portugal, but has a lot of history, it's wine has been praised since the 12th century and was a favorite on ships that traveled the world due to it's longevity and eventual ability to withstand long voyages.
Glad to know you had a good time.
notable omisson of the alentejo region, which produces a third of the nations grapes, and has the most variety of wine styles.. you could say it is the most modern region in it's evolution of wine. , not to mention the tejo region and setubal.. in other words the southerly regions. i asked people in portugal , generally people in the north including porto and the minho, and most people said their favorites were from alentejo, most of these were younger people. i totally understand where they are coming from ....for my my favorites were from the schist wines of the dao and also the douro... alentejo had the most wine surprises, and interesting choices, especially in the many types of white wine styles.
My trip covered a limited range of regions. A lengthy video on each region would be worthy. Didn’t make it to Alentejo on this trip. Perhaps next time. Thank you for the detailed comment.
I am in Portugal now and have been tasting weeks for a week. Generally, they are very good and excellent. I can tell you that most of the wines I saw are kept here in Portugal! 😢
I agree with you. I attended a couple of large walk around wine tasting events there, several of wine producers were looking for export partners. Some, are too small to have more than a presence in a limited number of countries. Worst case scenario, it provides to go back for another visit! Cheers. 🍷
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 My wife said we have to come back next year
@@delgadogarces Haha! Sounds like a win!
Say what you will of Gary Vaynerchuk now, but when he was making wine library TV back in the day, he always was talking how Portugal brings tremendous value. This was well over 10 years ago when few people were making accessible and consumer focused wine content
Years ago, I watched a good number of his videos. 🍷
Perhaps I'm unsophisticated, but I don't have an interest in Port. On my upcoming trip to Portugal I hope to taste table wines rather than Port. Your guidance will help my quest. Thanks.
If you visit the Douro, you’ll find a good number of excellent red wines, most with a high percentage of Touriga Nacional. Neighboring Dao is also worthwhile. Message me before you travel, let me know where you’ll be. I’ll provide suggestions. Cheers. 🍷
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine7234 I'm not traveling until September. Mostly staying in Lisbon and 3 nights each in Evora and Porto. Not sure if I'll take the train up the Douro valley. I'll try to remember to message you closer to September. Thanks so much.
@@brienmuller I can help. Message when you’re ready.
No talhas, terra cotta wines?😊
I wanted to keep the conversation to the actual experience, but that would be a good topic!
It's baffling how difficult it is to find Portuguese wine, even in nearby Spain. I'm not ruling out that there might be some anti-competitive interests given how Portuguese wines excel at the price points that the Spanish consumer typically goes for.
You raise a good point. Most Portuguese wine producers are smaller in scale. They lack the clout at the distributor level. Where I live, I can find a fairly broad range, but not so much in large format retailers.
Amigo, pega no coche e vem ao supermercados portugueses, continente ou pingo doce, compra vinhos a partir de 5€, sao todos bons, leva a mala do carro cheia por poucos€€€ exemplo (vinha do torrão reserva ) no pingo doce
@@Pickupcombis Thank you for the comment. Loading up the trunk with good cheap wine sounds like a day we’ll spent! 🍷
The vast majority of Portuguese wine is consumed locally. Portugal has the highest per capita consumption of wine in the world.
@@scottsorenson1859 And it’s often very affordable 🍷