Jancis Robinson wrote a love letter to the Douro valley a few days ago, and I can only agree and simply have to repost it.
She opens with the line that some landscapes just get under your skin, and she uses an African safari. Now, I have done safaris in Southern and Eastern Africa, and I couldn’t agree more: the sweeping savannas, the incredibly wide sky, and naturally seeing those animals of childhood dreams in real life…I could watch elephants for days and weeks without getting tired.
Then there are other landscapes that catch me, like the rising mountains of Alaska, straight from the sea, snow capped. It’s insanely breath-taking in its majesty. And then there is the Mosel valley, with its steep vineyards and the rather unimpressive little river snaking through. And then there is the Douro valley in Northern Portugal which I have been fortunate to visit once, and hope to repeat that sometime this year. The vineyards in these ultra steep are terraced, rugged, not like the picturesque Mosel. Here, it is more brute force, and sun burnt land…stunning.
Not to mention the people and the wines, not just Port. Some of my favorite, affordable wines in the world come from this area. Jancis takes us on a tour d’horizon through recent Port developments and regular wines. We all could use a little more Portugal, a little more Douro in our lives.
Just some tasting notes today. Work continues to be crazy, but I had these two quite different wines lately and wanted to share my impressions…with fall approaching, we’re all looking for soothing reds, right?
The first was the 2010 Bartenura Rosso di Montalcino DOC. Rosso di Montalcino, the little brother of Tuscany’s famed Brunello di Montalcino, can be an affordable and good choice if you are longing for some Italian earthiness in a younger wine. Made from 100% Sangiovese (like Brunello) and grown in the same area, the main difference is that a Rosso only needs to spend six months in oak (compared to two years for Brunello) and one year of total ageing before release.
Bartenura is a big, Italian-wide producer mostly known for its Moscato in a blue bottle (which I was not aware of when I picked up the bottle…) and its current website does not list the Rosso di Montalcino. We bought the bottle at Costco where it retailed for $12, which is definitely on the lower end for a Rosso di Montalcino.
The second wine we had was a 2005 Coume del Mas Collioure Quadratur from Languedoc-Roussillon in France. I bought this wine during a blow out sale on Last Bottle Wines mostly because of its logo. I loved that! The price was right ($12). According to the wine guide Gault Millaut it retailed for 24 euros (over $30) when they reviewed it.
The winery is the opposite of Bartenura, owning a mere 8 hectares planted with red vines, 11 hectares in total. I was looking forward to trying this aged mix of 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre and 20% Carignan.