Vinho Verde: a greta value trio from Pingo Doce

Branco, Loureiro and Alvarinho

Here are three bargain Vinho Verde own label wines from the Pingo Doce supermarket.

Let's start with the Branco at just 1.59€ made by Carlos Teixeira. Cleanly made the Branco has 10% of alcohol with the spritz in the finish that is typical of a certain popular style of Vinho Verde. Perfectly OK without being exciting but at the price.....

The Loureiro is also made by Teixeira. This is more full-bodied than the Branco and costs just 1.99€ a bottle. Amazing value. 

Finally a a firm favourite – the Alvarinho made by Anselmo Mendes for just 3.98€. OK it is not as fine or exciting as some of Anselmo's other Vinho Verdes but this is a very decent example with some concentration. Having tried this, it is well worth exploring the rest of Anselmo's remarkable range of wines both from the Vinho Verde but also from other parts of Portugal.         

Rabo do Pêxe: another fine dinner

2016 Dory Lisbon Regional Wine 

Last Thursday we went back to Rabo do Pêxe. We did our usual thing of choosing a few starters and then having some Sashimi and Sushi. Fortunately we had booked as Rabo continuous to be very popular.

We started with a bottle of the 2016 Dory from AdegaMãe. This is a blend of Viosinho, Alvarinho, Arinto and Viognier making a quite rich and concentrated white, while at the same time with an attractive freshness probably provided by the Arinto. It is made by Anselmo Mendes and Diogo Lopes.  

Almond coated prawns – a signature dish

Ceviche of scallops with ginger

Duck ham with pear 

Selection of Sashimi

Selection of Sushi

Having dispatched the Dory we decided to take a look at the 2014 Riesling from the same wine-making team. The 2014 Riesling is quite lean and crisp, so I couldn't decide whether I had chosen our two wines in the right order. The Riesling would have worked with the prawns and scallops but not with the duck. while the Dory could have gone with the sashimi and the sushi, although the Riesling happily paired with the raw fish. Will have to go back!     

2014 Riesling

(above and below)

Lisbon: André – Taberna da Rua das Flores and now Taberna Fina (Hotel le Consulat)

 Ceviche of oysters to get us started

Friday night was a real treat – dinner at Taberna da Rua das Flores. No surprise, of course, the food by is always wonderfully inventive as well as being very tasty. 

André Magalhães owner and chef of Taberna da Flores

This Friday (1st December) André Magalhães opens his Taberna Fina at the nearby Hotel Le Consulat.The concept will be very similar to Taberna da Rua das Flores but more fine dining based on a tasting menu with the additional option of enjoying wines by the glass selected by André Ribeirinho to match the dishes.  

Is it a spoon or perhaps a fork or both – which end do you use?

After a rum cocktail we broached this 2014 Beira Int from Anselmo Mendes – venturing away from his customary area – the Minho. This white is made from 100% of the rare grape – Síria from old vines. It has a very particular, quite pungent aroma while the palate is more conventional with attractive texture and length. Just under 20€ from the Garrafeira Campo d'Ourique.  

Some of our dishes:   

 Corvina

 

 Scallops wrapped in bacon 

 Art on a plate: still life 

Soft shelled crab burgers 

Once we had seen off Anselmo's fine Beira we moved onto the lovely, complex 2006 Casa Figueira Branco made from Roussanne. 

Desserts:  

A light egg dessert rather like an Ile Flottante

 

 Passion fruit cheescake

 Rich, opulent chocolate cake 

With our desserts we had the mellow 1994 Colheita, Pocas.

An Alvarinho to relieve the stress of Lisbon in June

 2016 Alvarinho, Viñho Verde, 

Anselmo Mendes, Pingo Doce own label

It is well-known that spending time in Lisbon in June can be extraordinarily stressful – friendly people, too many good restaurants to choose from, pleasant temperature.... I could go on but it would be bad for my blood pressure....

Fortunately help is to hand to reduce your anxiety, if you have a branch of Pingo Doce close by. Venture in and grab a bottle of their own label 2016 Alvarinho, Viñho Verde made by maestro Anselmo Mendes. At 3.98€ a bottle it is an amazing bargain even at sterling's shrunken value due to Brexit lunacy. Lovely crisp lemony fruit with plenty of refreshing acidity.

Actually come to come to think of it – grab at least two bottles.....you know it makes sense!  

Porto + Douro #winelovers – some more pics from 22.9 - 26.9

 The view from Burmester's reception room

After an early flight from Porto to Tours we are now back in the Loire to catch up and take stock of how the 2016 Loire vintage is going. Certainly there is a well established fine spell of weather here forecast to continue for some time, so good conditions for the moment to harvest what is left – sadly small compensation for those hardest hit by frost and mildew. Harvest updates to follow but today a few more pics from Porto and the Douro.  

 Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia: ridiculous photogenic!

 #winelover – Jürgen Schmücking 

and Giannis Krassaki @Burmester

Jürgen Schmücking 

Luiz Alberto: the master blender....

Some seafood at O Gaveto – great seafood restaurant 

in Porto close to the ocean 

 

2015 contacto – another Alvarinho treat from Anselmo Mendes 

2002 Viña Gravonia from Tondonia 

evidence that it is just Portugal 

that makes good whites on the Iberian Peninsula .....

Dirk Niepoort

2012 Reserva Douro, Duorum 

One of my favourite wines from the Adegga 

mini-wine market on Saturady

Some Portuguese treats

Relaxed dinner by the Tagus at Atira-te ao Rio

(This post was originally published on Les 5 du Vin on 26th July 2016.)

Portugal remains a treasure trove for good value wines in all three colours with many from their storehouse of native grape varieties. It is also possible, for those prepared to take a punt, to find some remarkable old wines at bargain prices.

How long this will last is perhaps now a question worth asking for, in 14 years of coming to Lisbon during July, I can never remember a year when Lisbon has been so full of visitors. It seems that many have now discovered the attractions and value of Portugal's capital. It is a hot destination and not just because it was 37˚C yesterday up from 36˚C on Sunday.

2015 Alvarinho, Vinho Verde, Pingo Doce own label 3.98€

Anselmo Mendes is a Vinho Verde specialist making a whole range of wines from this northern Portuguese region including a very fine single vineyard Alvarinho that I cited last week. This own label from supermarket Pingo Doce is at the other end of the scale. It does, however, offer both plenty of flavour and just amazing value. This Alvarinho that has both texture and a clean refreshing acidity – ideal as an apéro or with some grilled prawns, for instance.

2009 Dona Berta Vinha Centenária, Reserva Branco

Dona Berta – a quite opulent Douro white made from a range of grapes: Códega do Larinho, Rabigato, Viosinho, Gouveio and Malvasia Fina. We enjoyed this at at Pedro's Garrafeira Alfaia in the Bairro Alto. There is no wine list, so either you tell Pedro what sort of wine you would like to drink or you choose it from the shelves.

2014 Arinto dos Açores sur lies, DO Pico, Açores, António Maçanita     

Another of Pedro's choices, this is a rare Arinto from the Azores. Only 1600 bottles are made of this precise, saline and mineral wine. It was a fine foil for the sea bass baked in salt that Pedro's wife cooked for us – what a treat!

Sea bass cooked in salt

 

Some golden oldies

NV Terras Altas Dão, José Maria da Fonseca 

In last Tuesday's post I mentioned a couple of old wines that we had bought from the Garrafeira Nacional in the Mercado da Ribeira at Cais Sodre. We bought eight as these bin ends, offered at 5.95€ each – buy three, get the fourth for free. It was such a compelling offer that we bought eight on the basis that if a few were undrinkable, they would still have been good value.

To date we have drunk and enjoyed five of our eight bottles, so feel that we already have had a bargain. Last Friday night we dispatched a further three. Firstly came the quite deeply golden NV Terras Altas Dão, José Maria da Fonseca. We have no definite information about this white wine. José Maria da Fonseca no longer make a white from the Dão. It is, however, thought it may well have come from the 1960s. Although it naturally had some oxidation, it was certainly still complex, clean and precise with some touches of dried honey. 

A pair from the Ribatejo – Dom Hermano 1985 Reserva and 1980 Garrafeira  

It was fascinating to taste this pair of Dom Hermano reds from the Casa Agricola Herd. de D. Luis de Margaride in Almeirim. Both were in good shape with 12.5% alc but the 1980 Garrafeira, with a production of 50,000 bottles, had considerably greater length and complexity than the 1985 Reserva. The 1980 Garrafeira was bottled in November 1984, while the 1985 Reserva bottling was in March 1987.