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Liberty Wines Put Focus on Sustainability

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Two Very Highly Recommended Wines From The Alentejo. Drinking through Portugal's wine regions.

Drinking through Portugal wine regions. The Alentejo

Part III

Foot Trodden (2021), a book on Portuguese wine that I am currently reading, covers these eight regions: Minho, Douro, Dao, Bairrada, Colares, Ribatejo, Alentejo and Madeira (home of one of the most age-worthy wines). Other regions noted are Algarve, Setubal, Beiras Interior, Tránsmontano, Bucelas, VR Lisbon and Carcavelos. This is the continuation of an occasional focus on Portugal and over the next month or two I’ll try to get my hands on as many of the wines of Portugal as I can. Any tips or help will be most welcome!

Of all the companies bringing Portuguese wine into Ireland, Liberty Wines (with very strong connections to the country) are best placed to summarise the recent history of wine there. They do that well in this paragraph from their current portfolio.

From 1932, when Antonio de Oliveira Salazar took power, until Portugal’s accession to the EU in 1986, wineries were largely state-controlled. This generally stunted the development of exports and quality-driven producers in the country. Once state bureaucracy was relaxed and Salazar was removed from power, the Portuguese quality wine revolution got underway. It has been a slow process, but the past decade has seen the movement gather pace. As a result, few countries can match the value and diversity that Portugal has to offer.

Herdade Do Peso Vinha Do Monte Vinho Regional Alentejano (IG) 2019, 12.5% ABV, 

€16.95 RRP. Stockists: Mannings Emporium, The Wine Centre, Wineonline.ie

Sogrape is Portugal’s leading wine company, with an unparalleled presence. Since its creation in 1942, it has been investing in the main Portuguese wine regions. With a strong presence in Dão, Douro and Vinhos Verdes, entry into Alentejo - the national wine region with the highest growth rates - was natural and inevitable and came via Herdade Do Peso.

This Vinha Do Monte white is one of their wines and is produced from Antão Vaz, Arinto and Roupeiro grapes, supplied by growers in the Vidígueira region. It is one of the cooler Alentejo sub-regions and benefits from cool Atlantic air funnelled inland by a gap in the coastal mountains. Limestone soils here help to control vine vigour and lend elegance to the wines.

This white is fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel to retain freshness and vibrant fruit flavours. It is then aged on lees in tank to add extra depth and texture.

A medium-bodied wine, it has an attractive light gold colour. The aromatics are very fresh and elegant with fruity (pear, peach), floral and mineral notes combined.  That vibrant fruity freshness is balanced by a lively acidity on the palate and the wine is refreshing as an aperitif and a match to seafood and fish dishes and with all kinds of appetisers. Quite a crisp finish, will have you smacking your lips!

Enjoy this Very Highly Recommended Wine.

Alentejo is not that well-known here and then there’s its little-known (in Ireland) use of talha (amphorae). The talha has been part of life here since Roman times. The wine is "shared copiously” with family and neighbours. It is never bottled, just bring your own container, and food too (enough to share!) if you wish to eat in the cellar. No money changes hands, so don’t mention it! 

See also Part 11 of this mini-Portugal series. Better still, go and get the book, even for this Talha chapter alone.

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Azamor Single Estate Vinho Regional Alentejano 2019l, 14.5% ABV, 

RRP €21.95 Morton’s, Searsons Wine Merchants, McHughs Off Licence - Kilbarrack Road, The 1601, Drink Store, World Wide Wines, Egans Off Licence, Wineonline.ie, Leopardstown Inn.

Portuguese red wines are most often blends and this one takes the biscuit with a mix of indigenous and French varieties listed as 20%  Syrah, 18%  Alicante Bouschet,17% Touriga Franca, 17%  Merlot 12% Touriga Nacional, 10% Trincadeira and 6% Petit Verdot. Not too sure many would remember all those if you are out shopping for wine. But the French also have many multi-varietal wines so follow the region or better still the producer. Just ask for an Azamor red from Alentejano. This one, the Single Estate, with elegance, concentration and depth of flavour, is well worth the effort.

Deliciously fruity, and elegant with soft tannins, Azamor is made thanks to that melange of classic Portuguese and French grape varieties. It is mid-ruby robed and gorgeously fruity with soft tannins. The aromas, of rich dark red fruit scents, promise much and translate through to the well-rounded palate bursting at the seams with soft fruit flavours with the flimsiest wrap of spice. Soft yet vibrant flavours and soft tannins also accompany you to a magnificent finish. 

A terrific player with aperitifs, but even better with light dishes of meat, fish and pasta. Very Highly Recommended.

Situated relatively far south, the Alentejo is known for its dry, hot summers, when the temperature can often rise to 45°C. However, lying at 350 metres above sea level, Azamor’s 27 hectares of vineyard benefit from the cooling influence of altitude. Situated on low vigour, clay and schist slopes, these are some of the most densely planted vineyards in the region and produce low yields of very concentrated fruit.

Portugal mini-series

Part IV (Vinho Verde, Lisboa and Alentejano).

Part III (Alentejo) 

Part 11 (Douro, Dão, Alentejo and Setubal.)  

Part 1 (Minho) 

You don't need a Sat Nav to find good wine around Nantes. Go direct for this Muscadet Sur Lie

You don't need a Sat Nav to find good wine around Nantes. Go direct for this Muscadet Sur Lie

Günther Chéreau Confluentia Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie (AP) 2021, 12% ABV 

RRP €21.99 wineonline.ie World Wide Wines

Back in the day, around 1980, on family holidays in Brittany, I would wander into a supermarket and check out the wine. For seven or eight francs, the equivalent of our pound, I could buy a bottle of Muscadet, for a franc or two less, a bottle of Gros Plant, each from the bottom shelves. Very happy then with the price (compared to back home) and happy too with the quality (of which I knew very little).

Didn’t know anything about Sur Lie either, the two little words that appear on some Muscadet bottles and are a likely indicator of extra quality. Confluentia has them on the front label. Liberty Wines, the importers, explain: Château du Coing’s Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie is fermented with indigenous yeasts and spends the winter on its lees. The bottling of ‘Sur Lie’ wines cannot legally start until after the first Thursday in the March following the vintage. ‘Confluentia’ comes from a single south-facing parcel located exactly at the confluence of the rivers. It spends 10 months on lees and impresses for its distinctive textured, fragrant style.

Colour of our wine is a light gold with a myriad of micro bubbles clinging to the walls of the glass. It is delicately fragrant, citrus and floral. On the palate it is textured, is fresh, elegant and well balanced, with flavours to match the aromas. And quite decent length in the finish.

We are lucky to have it here in our glasses. It wasn’t the best of years in the area round Nantes where the fruit is grown.The spring frost resulted in a large part of the crop being lost.

The Loire

Goes well with seafood along with fish from the sea and rivers, some cheeses, or as an aperitif. Best served at around 12°C degrees.

St Fiacre had a monastery in County Kilkenny and later in France. Among other things, he is the patron saint of gardeners, wine growers included perhaps. The area around Château du Coing in the village of Saint Fiacre is surrounded by vines, most of them bearing the Melon de Bourgogne, the grape from which Muscadet is produced.

Back in those days, we had no Sat-Navs nor Google Maps and there is many a Cork driver who got lost in Nantes as he or she, fresh off the ferry at Roscoff, headed south. It happened to me one Sunday morning. Eventually I came out of the city and found myself in the vines, probably quite close to St Fiacre! Luckily, we spotted a sign for a town to the south that we knew was on the proper route and soon we were back on track.

Very Highly Recommended.

• Gros Plant, the other grape of the area, is sharply acidic, very tangy and sour. Only the natives love it and the wine is not exported.

Everyone loves this Tuscan “baby”, Capezzana’s Barco Reale

Everyone loves this Tuscan “baby”, Capezzana’s Barco Reale

Capezzana Barco Reale di Carmignano (DOC) 2019 

RRP €24.99. Red Island Wine Co. The Allotment. Grapevine. Wineonline.ie. O’Donovans Off Licence. La Touche Wines. Clontarf Wines

Everybody loves a baby and this Barco Real is the baby at Capezzana, one of most famous of Tuscan wineries. This light and easy drinking blend of Sangiovese (75%), Cabernet Sauvignon (15%), Canaiolo and Cabernet Franc, is the youthful version of the Carmignano from Capezzana and has become known as their “baby wine, the everyday drinking wine”. So said Pierpaolo Guerra of Capezzana as he introduced this wine at a September tasting in the MacCurtain Street Cellar.

The Carmignano is produced from slightly older grapes and also spends more time in oak compared to the 6-8 month stay of the Barco Real. 

This 2019 baby has a deep ruby red colour. The intense and fruity nose displays aromas of red plum and cherry with subtle hints of oak from barrel ageing. Rounded and ripe on the palate, it shows a perfect balance of fruit and well-integrated tannins. There is a hint of spiced berries on the long, elegant finish. Young but quite irresistible. 

Very Highly Recommended.

You may be surprised to see French grapes in the mix but Pierpaulo explained that French grapes have a very long history here as we sipped this aromatic and fruity wine with a spicy finish.

Not everyone is a fan of the international grapes. Take Giovanni Manetti, who runs the family vineyard Fontodi (1968) in the heart of Chianti Classico, as an example. 

He is proud that the main red grape here is Sangiovese, that it has seen off the challenge of the international grapes. “By rule, Chianti Classico must contain 80% Sangiovese but the trend is towards increasing that percentage, a very positive trend as it gives more sense of place. It is a very delicate grape but suits the terroir and it expresses it well. …Sangiovese has always been the biggest player but other indigenous grapes could be a good companion, better than the international varieties.”

While international grapes go back a long time here, Capezzana itself though has a much longer history. Situated in the Carmignano zone to the west of Florence, is nowadays owned and run by the Contini Bonacossi family, the latest in a long line. In fact, in the archives in Florence, they discovered a contract for the rent of vines and olive groves at Capezzana signed in 804 AD.

See more on Capezzana here .

A stunning Pinot Bianco from the foothills of the Dolomites

A stunning Pinot Bianco from the foothills of the Dolomites

Franz Haas Lepus Pinot Bianco Alto Adige 2021 13% ABV

RRP €27.99 64 Wine wineonline.ie The Vintry

Franz Haas was a consultant and scholar and also a founding member of the Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia, whose objective is “to protect and augment the prestige of wine producers that have been making wines with the highest ratings for at least twenty years”. He was also, according to Vino Italiano, “one of the biggest and most respected brand names in the Alto Adige… Good wines across the board.”

The Alto Adige is in the north of Italy, bordering Switzerland and Austria. Italian is the majority language but not the only one spoken regularly here. Some 30% speak South Tyrolean German. The area is quite well known for its Pinot Grigio while Schiava, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Lagrein, also do well here.  Pinot Bianco is also a key part of the Franciacorta sparkling wine that is produced in Lombardy.

In whatever language you call it, the Haas family has quite a reputation on the area and I approached this Pinot Bianco with confidence. It has a bright shiny straw colour. Aromas are fruity and floral. Fruit too (ripe apples and pears) and floral on the supple palate, along with a pleasant spice and a close to piercing acidity, all leading to a rich and persistent finish. Fragrant and refreshing, with an elegant yet robust character, this is a versatile food wine. 

The wine can be served with a variety of dishes, ranging from meaty starters to pasta dishes, rice and fish with or without sauces, to light Asian and spicy curry dishes. Serve at 14-16 degrees.

The Haas family has been growing grapes in Montagna in the province of Bolzano for generations. However, it was only with Franz, who died prematurely in 2022, that they began to produce and bottle quality wines. Franz studied at Geisenheim in Germany before working as a broker of Italian wines in the German market. After several years, he took over the running of the family business.

Liberty paid him this tribute: Franz Haas went to tremendous lengths to grow quality grapes and strived to preserve the flavours of the fruit during winemaking. As a result, the wines that he produced are infused with great character, with purity and balance on the palate. To maintain the aromatic quality of his wines, Franz Haas bottled his entire production under screwcap from the 2018 vintage onwards. A revolutionary choice, he was one of the first Italian wine producers to have done so.

Very Highly Recommended.

Two Excellent Wines from Chile's Aconcagua Coast DO, where "the vines grow happy and the grapes ripen slowly".

Two Excellent Wines from Chile's Aconcagua Coast DO where "the vines grow happy and the grapes ripen slowly"  

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Montes Alpha Pinot Noir Aconcagua Costa (DO) 2019, 14.5% 

RRP €23.99. The 1601; Martins Off Licence; Sweeney's D3; Higgins Off Licence; Blackrock Cellar; Wineonline.ie

“It is totally coastal influenced. In morning there’s mist and fog and then a shy sunshine from mid day. The vines grow happy. The grapes ripen slowly.” This was Aurelio Montes speaking of the Aconcagua Coast during a 2020 Zoomed masterclass as he sipped a Pinot Noir (Quite possibly this one).

Montes are serious players. According to the Wines of South America, Montes (founded in 1988) is credited for its pioneering work in the Colchagua’s Apalta district, the first to realise its potential as one of the best locations for red wines in Chile and “is among the most important wineries in Chile today”. As a further endorsement, their Alpha “M” (very limited production) is listed as one of the top 20 South American wines to drink before you die.

Bright ruby red is the colour of this 2019 Pinot Noir. It is quite aromatic, full of cherry, blueberry and raspberry, hints of vanilla too, sweet spice in there also. It is juicy and that bit spicy on the palette, hints of its time in oak (integrated), well rounded tannins, and a vibrant acidity helping the balance, keeping it smooth and elegant, as well as interesting, right through to the abiding and perfumed finish.  Very engaging,  totally likeable and Very Highly Recommended.

Montes Alpha wines are elegant and easy to drink, faithfully expressing the variety and terroir. “This has spent twelve months in French oak barrels, 20% new, for structure and complexity.” 

Their website tells us: Just 7 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean and located in the northern part of the Aconcagua Costa winemaking region, Viña Montes is the only winery with vines planted in this new D.O., characterized by cool, cloudy summer mornings, with sun at midday, and afternoons that see clouds reappearing with low temperatures. These conditions favor a slow ripening of the grapes that allow them to develop complexity and powerful aromas.

Importers Liberty Wines add: The proximity of the vineyards to the Pacific coast endows the wine with tremendous freshness, minerality, and cool climate typicity. The granitic soils of the Coastal Mountains have varying percentages of clay, which contributes elegance, creaminess and a unique sense of place.

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Best Value Wines 2022 Under €18.00. With Reviews & Irish Stockists. 

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Montes Classic Series Sauvignon Blanc Aconcagua Costa (DO)  2021, 13.5% ABV, €14.95 Bradleys Cork

Chilean Sauvignon blanc is usually pretty good and good value too, especially at entry level, as is the case here with this engaging Montes from the coastal vineyards of Aconcagua.

Colour is pale straw with green tones. Aromas are quite intense: herbaceous, pineapple, lime, and more. It is much the same on the palate, where a lively acidity comes into play, but you may also notice orange blossom and a light spice. 

No oak used by the way. An everyday wine they say. But a good one and Highly Recommended. Serve at 12 to 13 degrees and you’ll find it goes well with sushi, Caesar Salad, ceviche, garlic shrimp, grilled Mahi-Mahi, pasta primavera, seafood chowder and lemon chicken. 

Don’t think the Mahi-Mahi suggestion will be of much use to you. It is a fish of the Americas, also known as Red Snapper, and not usually available here, though I had it once at an early gastro pub in Passage  (I was told it had been flown in that morning!). You could try bream instead.

I was a regular visitor to that pub and the food was good. One of the best dishes I remember was a Scallop Pie. They must have been relatively inexpensive then for the dish was packed with them. They had a French chef I recall; my mobile phone (an early version) rang out loudly one night and the chef started singing along to the  “incoming call” music, which was the Marseillaise. 

The Montes Classic Series of wines represent the outstanding value Chile can offer for everyday drinking. “Grapes are hand-picked and transported to the winery with the utmost care, to keep bunch damage to an absolute minimum.” You don’t have to stop at this Sauvignon as the Series also include wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, and Chardonnay.

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Top Wines 2022. With Reviews & Irish Stockists. 

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A Classy 20-Year-Old Tawny Port For Christmas. And a lively Sicilian white for the aperitif and lighter dishes.

A Classy 20-Year-Old Tawny Port For Christmas 

And a lively Sicilian white for the aperitif and lighter dishes.

Porto Ferreira Dona Antónia 20-Year-Old Tawny Port NV

RRP €55.99 Wineonline.ie. Redmonds of Ranelagh. Clontarf Wines. World Wide Wines. Blackrock Cellar. Terroirs.

Colour is a pale tawny (as may be expected after all those years), with coppery hues. There’s an evolved unity about the aromatics but you may note dried fruit (figs, apricots), marmalade and wood smoke notes. In the mouth this  polished full-bodied wine is smooth and velvety. Superb flavours and aromas, not forgetting that balancing acidity, takes us all the way through to the delicious lingering finish. An amazing wine to be sipped and enjoyed and it is Very Highly Recommended.

This intense and complex Tawny is a blend of Ports between 15 and 40 years of age and local grapes such as Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Tinta Amarela are used.

Importers Liberty  Wine tells us Ferreira was founded in 1751, when the Port trade was dominated by British shippers. Ferreira is the oldest Portuguese Port house and remains the leader in the domestic market.

“It was under the leadership of Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, one of the formidable widows of the world of wine, that the company became the force it is today. Not only was Dona Antónia an astute businesswoman, she also fought to improve quality of life for the impoverished people of the Douro, building schools and hospitals and supporting them during the phylloxera crisis." 

Dona Antónia was ahead of her time in recognising the importance of vineyard ownership to guarantee quality, at a point when most other Port houses bought bulk wine from farmers. By the time of her death in 1896, Ferreira had become the largest Douro landowner and owned many illustrious Quintas including Quinta do Vesúvio, Quinta de Vargellas and Quinta do Vale Meão.

Today, the 27-hectare ‘Quinta do Porto’ is Ferreira’s flagship vineyard. Planted in 1771 and acquired by Dona Antónia in 1863. A warmer mesoclimate, due to the south/south-west exposure of the terraced vineyards and the proximity to the river, results in ports characterised by an exuberant ripeness, exceptional concentration, weight and structure, yet wonderful balance. 

Old-vine parcels, described by winemaker Luís Sottomayor as “over retirement age”, produce low yields of intensely flavoured grapes and form the backbone of many of the top ports in the Ferreira range. The entire Quinta is dry farmed, sustainable practices are followed and harvesting is carried out by hand.

Here’s how Ferreira make their port: 

Upon arrival at the Quinta do Seixo winery, the grapes were destemmed and gently crushed. Fermentation took place in stainless-steel vats with vigorous punch downs to extract the ideal levels of colour, flavour and tannin before fortification. The ferment was closely monitored to determine the ideal moment to halt the fermentation by fortifying with grape spirit, leaving some of the grapes’ natural sugars. The wines remained in the Douro until the spring following the harvest when they were transported downstream to the historic Ferreira cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia for oxidative ageing in oak barrels.

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Best Value Wines 2022 Under €18.00. With Reviews & Irish Stockists. 

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Curatolo Arini Inzolia Terre Siciliane (IGP) 2021, 12%

RRP €19.99 The Village Greengrocer Castlemartyr / Myles Creek / The Cinnamon Cottage Cork /Wineonline.ie

The winery tells us that Inzolia, also known as Ansonica or Insolia, is the oldest Sicilian indigenous grape. It is usually of good quality and mostly found in a blend, most famously perhaps in the local Marsala.

Here it is on a solo! It is quite clean and bright in the glass with a lovely straw colour and a tint or two of green.  Aromas are a little on the shy side but you’ll get the citrus, the almond and even the blossom. It is mostly citrus on the palate and there is also a pleasing salty note and a fresh minerality through to the satisfactory finish. A lively little number and one to note. Highly Recommended. Serve with grilled fish, baked chicken, grilled vegetables.

Importers Liberty: Established in 1875 by Vito Curatolo Arini, the winery is now run by the fifth generation of the Curatolo family, making it the oldest family-owned Marsala producer. Alberto Antonini is the consultant winemaker and his influence is evident in the wines, combining the richness that Sicily can easily provide with the freshness only someone with Alberto’s experience can retain.

Following harvest, the grapes were de-stemmed and allowed to macerate on their skins before a gentle pressing. Fermentation took place at 15° in stainless steel tanks. The wine is then left on lees at least 6 months before being bottled and “as a result it is fresh and vibrant with beautiful aromatics and a very clear sense of place”.

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Top Wines 2022. With Reviews & Irish Stockists. 

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