Wine & Spirits - February 2020 - 63

FOCUS: CENTRAL PORTUGAL
dark-fruited red that remains light in weight,
offering a lot of wine for $8. § Wine In-Motion
USA, Union, NJ
275091

87 | Herdade do Peso

$12

2018 Alentejo Trinca Bolotas (Best Buy) ^ A
warm and inky blend of alicante bouschet,
touriga nacional and aragonez, this wine
balances its dark fruit with restrained bitter
notes of roots and flowers. It will work with
the dark meat of a roast bird and cranberry
stuffing. § Evaton, Stamford, CT
274623

86 | Cortes de Cima

$13

2018 Alentejano Chaminé (Best Buy) ^ This
young wine-a blend of aragonez, syrah and
touriga nacional-tastes like a Beaujolais
with some tannic power. It's grapey and ripe,
the soft fruit playing up against those dense
tannins, needing braised trotters or other
hearty fare. § Tri-Vin Imports, New Rochelle, NY

north of Lisbon. It's a vibrant purple wine,
showing the Sharpie-like reductive stink of
Portuguese wines made to be cellared for
years before release. If you open this now,
give it a full dose of oxygen to reveal the brisk
red fruit, the scents of violets and generous
texture. It turns from rustic to cushioned in
its purple richness. Decant it several hours
before serving with grilled lamb. § Tri-Vin
Imports, New Rochelle, NY

PA L M E L A
274880

86 | Casa Ermelinda
Freitas

$10

2017 Palmela Dona Ermelinda Tinto (Best
Buy) ^ A mix of berry fruit, this tastes like a
handful of blackberries, blueberries, black
cherries and strawberries. It's a little jammy,
a little peppery, ready for lamb burgers off
the grill. § Aidil Wines & Liquors, Newark, NJ

LISBOA

PENINSULA DE SETUBAL

92 | Quinta de Chocapalha $50

85 | Adega de Pegões

274896

2015 Lisboa Vinha Mãe ^ Vinha Mãe is a sibling to Chocapalha's CH (also recommended
here). It includes three varieties from the
family's original planting three decades
ago: touriga nacional, syrah and tinta roriz,
blended here in almost equal amounts. Fermented without stems in lagars, this aged for
20 months in French oak barriques, developing into a wine that's gritty and grand. Open
it and you'll taste the flavor of fat grapes ripened to violet-purple intensity. Wait a bit and
you'll find more floral notes, rose and orange
oil, adding a sense of sweetness even as the
gentle tannins keep it dry. You can breathe
the earthy smoke of the tannins after each
sip, lengthening the savor of this beefy red,
leaving a pretty impression. § MundoVino/
Winebow Imports, NY
274900

91 | Quinta de Chocapalha $50

2016 Lisboa CH By Chocapalha Touriga
Nacional ^ The touriga nacional vines at this
family estate were 31 years old when Sandra
Tavares da Silva destemmed the grapes and
fermented them in lagars, then aged the wine
in French oak barriques. Still young, it has
a tight, formal structure, infusing touriga's
violet scents with brisk, juicy blueberry and
strawberry flavors. For the cellar. § MundoVino/Winebow Imports, NY
275414

91 | Casa Santos Lima

274939

$8

2018 Península de Setúbal Ten Mile
Bridge Castelão (Best Buy) ^ A crunchy red
with cherry-tomato tartness and some potent
grape-skin tannins, this is salty and a little
reduced. Splash it into a decanter and pour
with ribs. § Aidil Wines & Liquors, Newark, NJ

FORT IFIED
CARCAVELOS
275445

92 | Casa Manoel
Boullosa

$42/500ml

1991 Carcavelos Quinta dos Pesos ^
Produced just to the west of the city of
Lisbon, on the coast near Cascais, Carcavelos
is virtually extinct, but for 62 acres under
the protection of the government's ministry
of agriculture and one winery, Quinta dos
Pesos, where Manoel Boullosa produced
wines until he passed away in 2005. His
stocks continued to age in the cellar and
recently, in 2018, were blended and bottled,
with a few of these rare wines now in release,
including this 1991. Its flavors feel distant at
first, focused on smoky oak, rock candy and
salt. Then bay scents come up, along with
a lovely seaside sweetness layering over the
supple grape- and pineapple-scented fruit.
It's a fascinating rarity, and a delicious one. §
Haus Alpenz, Edina, MN

MOSCATEL DE SETUBAL
275265

93 | José Maria
da Fonseca

$70/500ml

93 | José Maria
da Fonseca

$150/500ml

90 | José Maria
da Fonseca

$120/500ml

Moscatel de Setúbal 20 Years Alambre ^ JM
da Fonseca's cellars on the Setúbal Peninsula
store a trove of ancient, remarkably youthful
fortified wines made from the local moscatel. Like an age-designated Tawny Port, this
is blended from older lots and some younger,
fresher wines to a style that approximates a
20-year-old. And 20 years seems like the optimal age for Alambre, still bright and sunny,
with luscious peach and yellow-plum flavors.
Its gentle length and persistent sandy sweetness would match a savory course of pork
rillettes or foie gras as readily as it would
Queijo Serra da Estrella served at the end of
the meal. § Palm Bay Int'l, Port Washington, NY
274777
Moscatel de Setúbal 40 Years Alambre ^
This wine's delicacy carries remarkable
concentration and vibrant flavors. It layers
apricot and nectarine over the zesty scent
of clementine rind. Age shows up as darker
shades of bergamot, caramel and salted nuts,
contrasting the cool, brisk fragrance of the
fruit and lasting with a little sweetness on the
lips. It's clean and fresh, a beautiful wine with
more stamina than most 40-year-olds. § Palm
Bay Int'l, Port Washington, NY
274776

Moscatel de Setúbal 30 Years Alambre ^ For
Jonathan Eichholz, sommelier and director
of the No Ceilings pop-up in NYC, this was his
favorite of this flight of moscatels, appealing
in its balance of aged character and fresher
notes of apricot jam and jasmine tea. It's fully
mature, showing some edges of alcohol along
with a lovely orange blossom scent. It's rich,
smoky and sweet, to sip with a cheese course. §
Palm Bay Int'l, Port Washington, NY n

$20

2015 Lisboa Reserva ^ Touriga nacional
makes up 40 percent of this blend, along with
syrah, tinta roriz (tempranillo) and alicante
bouschet, all from Alenquer, about 30 miles
WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2020

63
Wine & Spirits - February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2020
