Hello, fellow "Winers"!
I noticed that every issue I tell you that the wine in question is special, which can defeat the purpose.
If all the wines I bring I call them "special", so they are all special?
Yes, they are all special.
I have a glass of wine every day, and not always do I uncork a "valuable" bottle, even though the more household one is also good, is also very blend, so I make sure to select which bottles are worthy of sharing.
I'm also putting some thought into bringing some knowledge about the grapes and why some of them are only/always found in a certain region or not.
Anyway, for this week's Issue #3 of "Let's Wine About It!" I was able to put my hands on a beast of a wine called:
"Dão Duas Encostas Vinhas Velhas Signature" from 2019.
I'm a huge fan of it when I got my hands on it I could not stop myself from having a smile from ear to ear.
So, let's break it down:
This wine was blended with most characteristic grapes of the region:
- "Touriga Nacional";
- "Jaen";
- "Alfrocheiro";
- "Tinta Roriz"
As I mention on Issue #2, some grapes are almost like a "stamp" others, are more of a "base", and you can see that this wine and last week both have "Touriga Nacional" and "Tinta Roriz".
Nonetheless, the grapes are very different.
As it says on the bottle "Vinhas Velhas" literally translates to "Old Vines" - this means that the vines that the grapes came from are old (for a vine to be considered "old" it has to be at least 25 years, but the older, the richer).
And if you're asking why old vines make a difference, well:
- With time, vines don't produce as much quantity of grapes but produces richer grapes, which will make a difference in the taste;
- The vine roots are deeper in the soil, so the vine doesn't depend as much on the climate;
- Grape maturation stops being a problem, so you for sure get something a lot more velvety rather than something on the greener side.
"Old Vines" don't live forever, a vine usually goes up to 80 years depending on the vine, soil, height, climate, so eventually those are going to die, spiking up the price of the wine made with those.
This is a 2019, which was the one I could get my hands on and I am not whining. Nonetheless, if the chance of choice comes, mine will always be 2015.
Appreciation:
I have nothing bad to point out!
On the mouth, was a full-bodied, balanced, concentrated, elegant experience with a lingering dry finish;
On the nose you feel some freshness and spice (coming from bergamot and some spices to counterbalance the floral that is subtle);
They say "The beauty is in the eye of the "beer" holder" - but look at that clear Rubi color!!
This has a 13,5% alc./vol. - being intense is great for red meats, cheeses, and pasta.
I paired it with a 4 cheese lasagna (spicy Roquefort, Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Pecorino Romano), made from scratch and I couldn't have made a better choice.
The slight dryness and the velvety and concentrated flavors perfectly married the strong cheeses, especially when you would get the Roquefort pieces, a match made in HEAVEN!
CHEERS!