Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.
This past week included a bunch of fancy Portuguese wines as well as a couple of fun wines from California.
If you’ve got bubbles, you gotta start with bubbles, so let’s look briefly at a long-aged sparkling wine from the Douro region of Portugal. Famous for Port, of course, and increasingly for its dry table wines, the Douro is most certainly not known for sparkling wine, but maybe that’s why it took an American to start fermenting a bunch of early-picked local Douro grape varieties (both red and white) and throwing them on the lees for extended secondary fermentation in the bottle. The winery is named Caves Transmontanas, but their brand is Vértice, and they make a small amount of crazy-long-aged wine that they call Super Reserva, aged for 15 years on the lees. It didn’t knock my socks off, but it was beautifully textured, for sure.
Next we have the opportunity to compare two versions of Albariño, or, as Anselmo Mendes would say, Alvarinho. Mendes’ Parcela Unica (literally “single parcel”) Vinho Verde is a tour-de-force of the category, and one of my perennial favorites. If you want to know what Albariño should really taste like, this is a great candidate for a master class.
The latest version of Albarino from Two Shepherds winery suffers perhaps slightly in comparison, expressing more of the bright, ripe sunshine of California than the steely hills of Portugal, but there’s lots to like about the wine. You can also scan farther down for a nice rosé of Mourvedre and a carbonically-macerated Carignane, both of which are stables of the Two Shepherds lineup, and for good reason.
Back to Portugal, let’s take a look at what might be the most expensive white wine made in Portugal, Niepoort’s “Coche,” an unapologetic ode to Burgundy. Thankfully the Niepoorts didn’t try to make a Chardonnay. Instead, they took an old field blend of Arinto, Códega do Larinho, and Rabigato and made it in a Burgundian style to excellent effect, from the flinty struck-match nose to the silky rich citrus cream of the body. This is one sexy wine if you’re into spending a few hundred dollars for this sort of thing.
Alexandre de Almeida is not a winemaker, he’s a hotelier, and a famous one at that. But he’s also Portuguese, so having a little wine made in his home province of Barraida didn’t seem like a stretch. This refreshing white is quite tasty, but I’m not sure it’s worth the tariff.
Moving into reds, Casa de Passarella has been making wine in the same place since 1892 in Gouveia, Portugal. They produce a number of wines, but only occasionally a bottle that they simply call Casa de Passarella. It is a suave and refined field blend of local varieties from the Dão region that gets extended barrel aging and bottle aging before release. The 2011 vintage is the current release and only recently hit the market.
The Costa Boal family has roots in Portugal traceable for 150 years or more, with several branches having made wine at some point or another. But the Costa Boal wine company launched only in 2009 when António Boal decided to re-ignite the family business in Boal’s home town in Trás-os-Montes, the mountainous interior province of Portugal. The winery produces wine now in three areas, the Douro, Alentejo, and Trás-os-Montes. The Palácio do Távoras Gold Edition is the winery’s flagship wine from the region, and offers a refined expression of Touriga Nacional and Baga with a touch of Alicante Bouschet.
Notes on all these below.
Tasting Notes
2007 Caves Transmontanas Vértice “Super Reserva Brut Espumante” Sparkling Wine, Douro, Portugal
Pale gold in the glass with very fine bubbles, this wine smells of parchment, baked apples, toasted bread, and wet pavement. In the mouth, a voluminous mousse carries flavors of apple and lemon pith. Faintly salty. Excellent acidity. Long finish. A blend of Malvasia Fina, Touriga Franca, Gouveio, Rabigato, and Viosinho grown at 600m in granitic soils. Aged 15 years on the lees in the bottle. Riddled every 4 years. 12% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $50.
2020 Anselmo Mendes “Parcela Unica” Vinho Verde, Portugal
Pale straw in color, this wine smells of green apples, white flowers, and a hint of wet steel. In the mouth, faintly salty green apple, steel, and wet chalkboard minerality have a wonderful juicy brightness. Lime zest and seawater linger in the finish. Fantastic acidity. 100% Alvarinho. 12.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $36. click to buy.
2023 Two Shepherds “Soleil – Vista Luna Vineyard” Albariño, Lodi, California
Pale yellow-gold in the glass, this wine smells of peaches and green apples. In the mouth, bright peachy and melon flavors mix with green apple and a hint of lemon peel. Decent acidity, though less than I would expect from this grape. Made with certified organic grapes fermented with native yeasts. Aged in a combination of 55% neutral barrels and 45% stainless steel. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 12.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $28.
2021 Niepoort “Coche” Branco, Douro, Portugal
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of struck flint and lemon pith. In the mouth, salty lemon pith and grapefruit pith mix with dried aromatic herbs. Excellent acidity and stony minerality. . Made from a white field blend of 80- to 100-year-old vines (mostly Arinto, Códega do Larinho, and Rabigato) grown in a combination of schist and granite soil. 11.8% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $224. click to buy.
2017 Alexandre de Almeida “Buçaco” Branco, Bairrada, Portugal
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of grapefruit pith, green apples, and a hint of lemon oil. In the mouth, lemon oil and toasted oak mix with grapefruit and a hint of kumquat that adds an electric shock of citrus acidity in the finish. A blend of Bical, Encruzado, and Maria Gomes. 13% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $113. click to buy.
2023 Two Shepherds “Wiley – Carbonic – Trimble Vineyard” Carignane, Mendocino County, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry and plums. In the mouth, plum, plum skin, and cherry flavors are stony and crunchy with excellent acidity and wet pavement minerality. Notes of citrus peel and sour cherry linger in the finish. Tangy and delicious. Made from organically farmed, dry-grown, 80-year-old Carignan vines. Fermented carbonically with native yeasts in stainless steel. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 10.9% alcohol. 330 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $22. click to buy.
2023 Two Shepherds “L’il Trouble” Rosé of Mourvédre, California
Light ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of cherries and blueberries. In the mouth, gauzy tannins hang in the background as juicy sour cherry and plum skin flavors mix with a hint of orange peel and dried herbs. Crunchy acidity keeps things fresh along with a wet pavement minerality. Quite successfully occupying a liminal space between red and rosé. Organic grapes picked early, fermented with native yeasts, and then pulled off the skins halfway through fermentation. Ages in a combination of 60% stainless steel and 40% neutral barrels. 9.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $26.
2016 Quinta do Casal Branco “Vinha do Tojal” Tinto, Tejo, Portugal
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of dried flowers including violets, as well as licorice. In the mouth, fleecy tannins wrap around a core of blackberry and bright raspberry shot through with orange peel and pith. Excellent acidity and a nice stony underbelly. A blend of 40% Alicante Bouschet and 60% Castelão from 100-year-old vines planted among 100+-year-old olive trees in soil as sandy as a beach. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $150. click to buy.
2011 Casa da Passarella “Vindimia 2011” Tinto, Dão, Portugal
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cassis, wet pavement, and dried herbs. In the mouth, stony flavors of dried herbs mix with juicy black currant, plum skin, and earth. Fine stony tannins wrap around the savory core of fruit and herbs. Excellent acidity. Still fairly tight and young after 12 years but this is the current release! A blend of Baga, Alfrochiero, Touriga Nacional, Alverelhão, Tinta Pinheira, Jaen, Tinta Carvalha, and more. First harvest at this winery was 1892. Score: around 9. Cost: $300.
2019 Costa Boal “Palácio do Távoras Gold Edition” Tinto, Trás-os-Montes, Portugal
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of dried herbs, dried cherries, and red berries. In the mouth, bright juicy cherry and sour cherry flavors mix with a touch of oak. Tight, fine-grained tannins hang in the background. Excellent acidity. A blend of Touriga Nacional, Baga, and Alicante Bouschet. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $120.
