Wannabe Wino

Ryan and Gabriella of Catavino set us to task as the hosts of WBW #38 this month to drink a Portuguese table wine. We were to avoid Port for sure, and if we could, choose a wine that was not a Vinho Verde or from the Duoro region of Portugal. To me that is a mighty assignment, as I was soon to discover while I traipsed all over my corner of VA in desperate search of something different! I *believe* I've only ever consumed one wine, to my knowledge, from Portugal, and that was a Vinho Verde, with which I was very much underwhelmed. So it was with that in mind that I looked high and low, feeling a bit like Goldilocks as I said "No, that's Vinho Verde. No that's from Duoro." Until, finally, on Monday I got to say, "Yes! That one is just right!"

My find was made at UnWined, oddly enough where I also found my first (and only) Vinho Verde. The bottle I chose, out of the 3 they had that weren't Port, Vinho Verde, or from Duoro, was a 2002 Qunita da Mimosa Red Wine. I don't think you can get much more "Table Wine" like than a "Red Wine." It hails from the Fernando Po Zone of the Palmela DOC. The wine is made of Castelao grapes, known locally as the Periquita grape. The wine cost me $16.99, had a real cork closure and clocked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume. I chose it for a couple reasons, one is very superficial, in that it had a purple label and my favorite color is purple, and the other being that it was the last lonely bottle of its kind hanging out on the shelf and I felt bad for it. I have never claimed to be logical in my wine selections!

On the nose I found tart cherries and a bit of alcohol with a slight medicinal note at first. That blew off fairly quickly to reveal a wine with a lot going on in the aroma. I got sour cherries, red fruit, currants, and pie spices. I will be thankful that Matt went upstairs to read and left me with the bottle or I think the rest of the bottle would have been gone before I tore my nose away from the glass! In the mouth, lots of flavors burst through. I found tart tart cherries (and yes, I mean really tart), red berries, blackberries, and a slight sour note. Overall the wine was a bit tannic, but that faded as my glass set out. The fruit in my glass was very pronounced and fresh. I definitely recommend this bottle.

Thanks to Ryan and Gabriella for hosting and for getting me, once again, to try something completely different!