WTN: '06 Douro Palestra (and Portuguese bargains)

2006 Palestra, Douro, Encostas do Douro:

I've been going through a bunch of inexpensive Portuguese wines because they are often very distinctive as daily drinkers and can be had for very little $$. This is a blend of 40% Touriga Franca, 40% Tinta Roriz and 20% Tinta Barroca. Color is quite dark and youthful and not perfectly clear. Some coal stove and citrus peel on the nose. Palate has rich bramble/raspberry fruit balanced by some bitter orange acidity, floral notes and fine grained, ripe tannins. There are some pencil shavings/graphite. Not hard to imagine this being based on port grapes. It is very hard to belive this is a $6 bottle - it is very balanced and delicious. I will be buying some more.

When I went to the producer's website, http://www.daosul.com, I had an interesting revelation. This producer s part of a group of estates scattered around Portugal which goes by the name of Dao Sul. These estates appear to share winemakers and viticulturists, use mostly native varieties (good, IMO) and ferment with natural yeast. And every wine I have tried from this group has represented tremendous value: Quinta do Cabriz and Quinta dos Grilos (both Dao), Quinta do Encotro (Bairrada) and here, Encostas do Douro (aka Quinta Sa de Baixo). This groups low end wines really hit the spot and I look forward to trying some of their other products (e.g. Quinta das Tecedeiras looks promising in a somewhat higher price range). Does anyone have experience with any of their other wines?

When I went to the producer's website, http://www.daosul.com, I had an interesting revelation. This producer s part of a group of estates scattered around Portugal which goes by the name of Dao Sul. These estates appear to share winemakers and viticulturists, use mostly native varieties (good, IMO) and ferment with natural yeast. And every wine I have tried from this group has represented tremendous value: Quinta do Cabriz and Quinta dos Grilos (both Dao), Quinta do Encotro (Bairrada) and here, Encostas do Douro (aka Quinta Sa de Baixo). This groups low end wines really hit the spot and I look forward to trying some of their other products (e.g. Quinta das Tecedeiras looks promising in a somewhat higher price range). Does anyone have experience with any of their other wines?

Thanks for the tip, will seek them out. Some Portuguese brands work best at the most basic level, the ones in a higher price range being just over-oaked versions, but they are all definitely worth investigating.

In Brazil, Dão Sul has a joint venture producing inexpensive wines in the arid and hot Brazilian northeast. Since the climate there is hot all year round, without marked seasons, the grapes produce two and a half vintages per year and the winemakers have to use a hormone developed by BASF to synchronize the flowering of the vines. I add this unsavory detail because the fact that they use natural yeasts in Portugal should not make us rush to conclude that they are particularly enlightened (though I don't know enough one way or the other).

Dao Sul? See what was posted yesterday on Jamie`s blog!!

http://www.wineanorak.com/portugal/Bair ... daosul.htm

Bob: Thanks for posting that link to Jamie's blog. I know he pays close attention to Portugal, but hadn't come across that article yet. Again, the amazing thing is that the lower level wines (e.g. basic Cabriz Daos and Encotro Bairrada) cost around $6-$7 in my market, making them great values. And he confirms my suspicion that they would be considered modernizers in what seems to be very traditional regions. But they do get some things that many modernizers miss: many of the native grapes are great (i.e. don't rip everything out to plant Cabernet Sauvignon), you don't need to douse everything in heavy oak, etc.

Oswaldo: I did see that they had an operation in Brazil. The idea to have 2.5 crops a year is a bit creepy, not the sort of agriculture I'd like to support. In Portugal it appears that Dao Sul was cobbled together from several old Quintas, which probably already had vineyards planted to the native grapes, maybe giving the operation a certain wisdom that it doesn't deserve! But they can have a deft touch. The basic Encontro Bairrada is 90% Baga, 10% Merlot: the latter is just enough to take the edge off what is somtimes a harsh (but worthy) grape, based on my limited experience with some pure Baga wines.

When I went to the producer's website, http://www.daosul.com, I had an interesting revelation. This producer s part of a group of estates scattered around Portugal which goes by the name of Dao Sul. These estates appear to share winemakers and viticulturists, use mostly native varieties (good, IMO) and ferment with natural yeast. And every wine I have tried from this group has represented tremendous value: Quinta do Cabriz and Quinta dos Grilos (both Dao), Quinta do Encotro (Bairrada) and here, Encostas do Douro (aka Quinta Sa de Baixo). This groups low end wines really hit the spot and I look forward to trying some of their other products (e.g. Quinta das Tecedeiras looks promising in a somewhat higher price range). Does anyone have experience with any of their other wines?

Joe - thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware of this shared group before. Interesting approach. When I used to visit Massachusetts a lot earlier in the decade, I used to try different Portuguese producers since there is a large population of descendants from the Azores and Cape Verde and the local stores tend to carry many wines from the homeland. I think I've had the Grilos before (the name has something to do with either ants or insects, or the one I'm thinking about does). It was modern-styled but well made, approaching jammy ripeness but not over-the-top. Decent pizza wine. I think it was around $12.

I love digging around in the archives here! Especially as I am a big Portugal fan, sucks you all knew that.
Heads up for those here, looks like Ian and yours truely are thinking of doing a Dao Open Mike next month. Hope to have some of you around?