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New wines from Port country Yes, Portugal still produces some of the world's greatest dessert wines in the form of warming, fortified Port, and we'll get to that later this week. But as I reported in last Monday's edition, shortly after my arrival in this sunny, welcoming land on the far western edge of Europe, the real wine news here isn't about old, historic Port but the exciting new wine developments taking place in Port's traditional home in the Douro River Valley and beyond. The "ferment" going on in Portugal, if you'll pardon the expression, reminds me of nothing I've seen in the world of wine since the early 1980s, when in parallel fashion, a growing group of young wine makers challenged the Chianti tradition with creative new wine-making efforts that would yield the wines that came to be known as "Super Tuscans." Super Tuscans, though, didn't so much abandon the Chianti tradition as modernize it, creating similar but more modern wines by adding French wine-grape varieties, tweaking vinification, and replacing old barrels with fancy French-oak barriques.
Like the Super Tuscan producers, they're growing quality grapes under low-yield conditions, making the wines in high-tech equipment like conical stainless steel fermenters, holding them in pricey small French barrels, and in some cases, diverting the best grapes once reserved for Port to use in the dry Douro reds instead. Their efforts are gaining attention from outside Portugal, with such French luminaries as Bruno Prats of Chateau Cos d'Estournel and Jean-Michel Cazes of Chateau Lynch-Bages coming in to team with Portuguese producers to make new wines. And the good news for wine consumers outside Portugal is that these outstanding wines are starting to move into the world market. For reference, here's a list of top producers. To review my tasting reports on many of the wines, follow the link to my "Portugal Wine Diary" reports under "Talk About Wine Online" below. Douro Boys
Quinta do Vale Dona Maria, Douro Independent Winegrowers' Association
Casa de Cello, Entre-Douro e Minho/Dão
TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE: If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.
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Call 1-800-777-4443 or visit Wine collector or connoisseur? Ask about our Signature Series. International adventurer? Ask about our International Selections. This week on WineLoversPage.com Some highlights of recent articles on WineLoversPage.com that I hope you'll enjoy:
• Bucko's Wine Reports: Winter 2005 Releases
• Hot topics in our WineLovers' Community Cheers to the holidays Last Week's Wine Advisor Index Because of my travel schedule, The 30 Second Wine Advisor was published only on Monday last week:
• Greetings from Portugal (Dec. 12, 2005)
• Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
• Wine Advisor Foodletter archive:
SUBSCRIBE: Administrivia To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, or for any other administrative matters, please use the individualized hotlink found at the end of your E-mail edition. If this is not practical, contact me by E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com, including the exact E-mail address that you used when you subscribed, so I can find your record. We do not use our E-mail list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail address to anyone. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. To contact me, please send E-mail to wine@wineloverspage.com All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Monday, Dec. 19, 2005
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