The wine for the evening was the 2003 Esporao Trincadeira 2003. I purchased this wine from Domaine547 for $24.99, it clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, hails from Portugal, and I believe it had a real cork closure, though to be honest I didn't write it down. (For some reason my Firefox spell check has decided that it doesn't like contractions anymore...)

On the nose I found blueberry, spice, blackberry, plum, raisins, prunes, vanilla, and toast. The wine's nose struck me as a combination of a Syrah and Petite Sirah. I purchased this bottle in my quest to try some new varietals, so I had absolutely no expectations leading into trying the Trincadeira grape, nor do I have anything to compare it to!

In the mouth I got flavors of blueberry, plum, blackberry, spice, baking spice, and raisins. The wine had huge tannins. It was full in the mouth, fruity up front, but drying in the back palate. I was really struck by the blueberry in this wine, making me lean almost toward it being kind of Peite Sirah like.

We drank this on its own, but I think with the big tannins it would have shown with a nice thick steak or a rack of lamb.

I recently got around to finishing up all but one of the last 6 wines I purchased from Domaine547 in my quest to search out some new and interesting grapes from countries I tend not to turn to frequently. This wine fell squarely in both categories, I rarely drink wine from Portugal (mainly because not much is carried in my local stores) and I had never even heard of the grape!

The wine was a 2006 Quinta do Alqueve Fernao Pires, from the Ribatejo DOC in Portugal. It's a white wine that clocks in at 13% alcohol by volume, has a real cork closure, and cost me $9.99 from Domaine547 (apparently I'm also on a bargain wine kick!).

The best way that I can think of to describe this grape, the Fernao Pires grape, is that it seems like a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. It's crisp and refreshing like the Sauvignon Blanc, but has the aromatics and slightly heavier oily characteristic of a Viognier.

On the nose I found citrus, lemon, pineapple, and peach. In the mouth, the wine was heaver than I expected from the nose, and slightly oily, like the mouthfeel I expect from Viognier. Crisp citrus showed up front with heavier ripe peaches dominating the finish. I mostly found lemon and lime.

Overall the wine was dry with good structure. I served it with crab legs, the first we've had in a while, and it was a great match. I do love a good Sauvignon Blanc with my crab legs, and since this wine reminded me a bit of Sauvignon Blanc, it makes sense as a pairing for me. This is definitely not one to be missed at this price point, especially if you are into trying out new types of wine!

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!

We bought a lot of wine while in the Sonoma area this summer. And by a lot I mean around 200 bottles. Now, not only has the storage of such a quantity been a challenge given that we live in an apartment, but many of the bottles cost more than we like to drink as a regular weekday wine. If we actually lived in Sonoma and didn't have to ship, it might be an option to drink more of it regularly. So we are currently searrching and tasting to find more affordable options in all categories to drink with dinner most nights.

Our search led us to Unwined a local wine shop I read about on Virginia Vine Spot

We picked up 6 bottles and have tasted our way through 3 so far. The first two weren't worth mentioning, except for the point of interest that one was a Vihno Verde from Portugal. I had never seen anything like it before and had to try it. For $7.99, it was worth it just for the experience. Vihno verde literally means green wine, but this bottle was completely clear in color. I gather that it's generally a sparkling wine, but I would say it's a lot less fizzy than any other sparkling wine I've ever had. Ours was Gatao Vihno Verde. I can't say I was disappointed since I didn't know what to expect, but this was an almost flavorless, slightly fizzy (think sparkling table water), lemony gingerale type of drink. I wouldn't rush to buy it again, but might consider trying a different brand. If unique wines are your thing, give it a go for the novelty.

In the interest of not writing novels, I'll put my notes from tonight's wine in a new post.