Wine & Spirits - February 2020 - 61

FOCUS: CENTRAL PORTUGAL
flavors, lemony bright. It's soft and a little
honeyed, a clean white to serve chilled before
dinner. § Tri-Vin Imports, New Rochelle, NY

RE D
ALENTEJO
275641

94 | Herdade do Mouchão

$60

2013 Alentejo ^ The Reynolds family released
their first bottling from their Mouchão estate
in 1949, and it soon became a legendary wine
in Portugal. The family had come to the Alentejo in the 1800s, as part of the cork trade,
and settled on a ranch northeast of Estremoz,
eventually planting vines in the 1870s when
some professors from Montpellier traveled
to the region with cuttings of a recent cross,
alicante bouschet. This blend is a selection
of the top parcels of alicante bouschet, and
includes about 15 percent trincadeira, the
grapes fermented in stone lagars, the wine
aged in old wooden vats for three years, then
another two in bottle prior to release. It starts
out as a narrow, tense wine with a cool, spicy
bite to the finish. Then it keeps developing over the course of hours and days, the
wine's alcohol completely incorporated into
floral blueberry flavors, its youth showing
in bright notes of bee pollen, more August
than September or October. As it gains some
fat and turns silken, the wine shows what it
will become with another five to ten years
in bottle. § Wine In-Motion USA, Newark, NJ

sion refined and harmonious. § Aidil Wines &
Liquors, Newark, NJ
275646

93 | Herdade da
Malhadinha Nova

$100

2014 Alentejano Menino António Alicante Bouschet ^ Rita Andrade Soares and
her family purchased this estate in 1998 and
turned it into a small hotel and spa. Located
in Albernôa, south of Beja in the lower Alentejo, it's a working farm where they raise cattle and black pigs; they also tend olive groves
and 86 acres of vines on schist soils, the first
vineyards planted in 2001. Luís Duarte of
Herdade dos Grous (whose wines are also recommended here) helped the family design
the winery and determine what to plant; he
continues to consult with Nuno Gonzalez,
the winemaker on site. In 2014, they decided
to separate out their top selection of alicante
bouschet for this wine, something they'd
done only twice before, in 2012 and 2008.
The variety, when it hits, captures the Alentejo like no other, transforming the region's
sun and African winds into gracious, longlived wines. In 2014, the season was more
moderate than usual, allowing the variety to
fully mature, creating a wine that's massive,
stony, meaty and as black as midnight. Stay
with it and the power does not let up, even
as the fruit develops layers of purple majesty,
floral notes and blueberries, while the tannins' earthy intensity shifts into silk. Patient
cellaring, for a decade at least, will be richly
rewarded. § Wine In-Motion USA, Newark, NJ

274925

93 | Herdade dos Grous

ripe fig integrate with black mushroom and
soy, layered in a way that would parallel
Cantonese soy sauce chicken or roast duck. §
Aidil Wines & Liquors, Newark, NJ
274742

92 | Luís Duarte

$16

92 | João Portugal Ramos

$30

2017 Alentejo Maravista (Best Buy) ^ Luís
Duarte built his career at Esporão, not far
from where he planted his own vineyards in
Reguengos de Monsaraz. He farms 160 acres
of vines at his Terra Calma estate, harvesting
this fruit at night, fermenting it in stainless
steel, then aging it in 500-liter French oak
barrels. The blend is 62 percent tempranillo,
known here as aragonez, deepened by
alicante bouschet and cabernet sauvignon.
It's the aragonez that drives it, putting to
shame tempranillos you might find for twice
the price in Rioja, not to mention Ribera del
Duero. Here, the tart plum flavors have a
bright, sunny tomato-skin edge. Great with
a sausage and mushroom pizza. § Specialty
Cellars, Hermosa Beach, CA
275677
2017 Alentejo Marquês de Borba Vinhas
Velhas ^ A blend of alicante bouschet,
aragonez, castelão and syrah grown in the
schist and limestone soils near the town of
Estremoz, this ferments in lagars made from
local marble, then ages for 12 months in
barrels coopered from oak grown in France
and America. That oak comes first in sweet
smoke, then a curtain of earthiness and brash
acidity grounds it. Those elements move to
the background as the middle of the wine
fills up with purple plum and dark cherry
flavors, taut and impressively fresh. This
is tight and luxurious, bright and round,
with the soft tannins to hold its shape. Fit
to develop further in the cellar, even as the
wine is approachable now, this is well worth
buying by the case. § Aidil Wines & Liquors,
Newark, NJ

$37

2016 Alentejano Moon Harvested Alicante Bouschet ^ Luís Duarte makes the
wines at this horse farm and country hotel
in Albernôa, southwest of Beja in the lower
Alentejo. He developed this wine by harvesting one lot during the lunar cycle when
the moon had the greatest influence on sap
movement in the vines; he harvested a second lot based on his normal criteria. They
were significantly different and he decided to
bottle the "moon-harvested" lot separately.
It's has a cooler feel and more elegance than
you might expect from alicante bouschet in
the Alentejo, carrying the dark fruit of the
grape into a realm of spices and flowers. The
texture is meaty and full, the lasting impres-

274883

93 | Marcolino Sêbo

$20

2015 Alentejo Visconde de Borba Reserva
(Best Buy) ^ Jorge Santos selects this fruit
from the Sêbo family's vineyards, a blend
of aragonez, alicante bouschet, trincadeira
and tinta caiada that he ferments in lagars
while controlling the temperature. Aged in
a mix of French and American oak, it's a
sunny and grand Alentejo red, capturing the
ripeness of the region's fruit and delivering it
with elegance, grace and persistence. Notes
of spicy black peppercorn, dark berry and

275108

92 | Quinta da Fonte Souto $25

2017 Alentejo ^ The first release from the
Symington family's new project in the foothills of the Serra de São Mamede, this wine
is made by José Daniel Soares from 20-yearold vines at the estate. It's a blend of alicante
WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2020

61
https://www.herdade-dos-grous.com/ https://www.marcolinosebo.com/pt/ https://www.symington.com/brand/quinta-da-fonte-souto
Wine & Spirits - February 2020

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