Portuguese Wines

[Giulietta]

Those that know me, know I am crazy about wine, especially the wines of Portugal...I am not a connoisseur, nor I want to claim to be a wanna be, I am an aficionado, or a lover if I may..simply because I grew up with it, and have been drinking wine for over 35 years now…yep..we start early..so I have had a LOT of it..

No..I am not a drunk, I drink wine, as part of my country's heritage, and part of my education and culture. We learn to drink wine from our parents, its part of our culture, and maybe because of that we have less drunks…in fact I don’t even think we have an AA (maybe we do, but I never heard of it)…

We start drinking wine at a young age, maybe around 15 to 16, normally at lunch at home, first mixed with water, and as we grow, the water decreases, the wine quantity increases, and by 18, we are at a full glass, pure wine..we normally do not exceed a glass or two with the meals..(kinda like you my US friends with Coke..except wine will not kill you, unless you drive)..

Every single Portuguese person drinks at least a glass of wine, even at work (as we have no alcohol laws), with their meals…once a day..we have less heart diseases because of that too.

Because Portuguese wine is mostly produced for 11 million people in Portugal, very little gets exported (a note here..I am really, really, embarrassed and ashamed Portugal exports a wine that we Portuguese do not touch, the Rose Mateus and Lancers…how we do it, and why..i don’t know..but I really hate it)…most of our production, sold via supermarkets and other business such as gas stations, etc. (you can find beer and wine at McDonalds by the way), is for internal consumption only..and unless you actually buy it in Portugal..most stuff you get outside the country is not a real sample..

So why is most of our wine good?? Because Portuguese people are culturally stubborn, and know what they want and most know wines..as a consequence, if a certain cellar sells or commercializes a bad wine, we all drink it, and once a Portuguese person drinks a bad wine, very rarely will he buy that wine again..and that’s bad for business..so the cellars only sell the good stuff…this is the real explanation..we are very critical about our wine..we also like to bad mouth bad wines..

My big issue with other countries wines is the fact they chose grapes that we see everywhere and are so boring .
I am so tired of seeing these everywhere..the old same old same old, boring no change ..I am talking about the Cabernet Sauvignon, the Merlot, Carménère, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon....same over and over and over.....

I am really tired of these casts..to be honest..like eating steak everyday for 40 years...one gets really tired and bored....and to be honest..they have more fame than real...and they haunt me..everywhere I go...ahhh what about a Cabernet??? I DON'T WANT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you drink it....

However, and being Portuguese, off course..I prefer myself the Portuguese grapes BY THE WAY IF YOU ARE TRYING PORTUGUESE WINE...READ THIS FIRST

Our wines, although less known, are by far superior, as we have our own grapes, like Roriz, Touriga Nacional, Baga, etc...and we have many many, many more variety than the French....these as you see have nothing to do with the same BORING French wines....

This to say, they (French) have some good wine...some better than ours, but if you drink it every day its BORING!!!

Just ask TDW, or Joel, or Chuckles or anyone who visited that tasted our wine, the one we sell inside...when they came here..our supermarket shelves have over 3000 brands of red wines alone..most far superior to any French stuff, and mostly, not BORING...but nowadays..it's "chic" to drink French wine...what can I say..

I will soon post some good brands, if you are interested, so you can go look for at your wine merchants..and this thread doesn’t decay into something different..I know some of the Portuguese living in New England can get the real deal there, and some dealers there (that are probably Portuguese) have the good stuff...so look around, and if you need help, just ask here now..gotta go..I have a nice wine waiting for me..

Off course this only applies to table wines...I have excluded the Port and Madeira wines from here...that is another thread one day...
as these are probably the best liquor wines in the world, and dseserve athread on their own

some sites, to get you going for now...

here

here

here

just google Portuguese wines, and see for yourself...
.

[Freesail99]

My guess is a few of you know that I had made my living as a winemaker for 25 years. I will back up what Giu is saying about Portuguese wines. I am a huge fan of their white wines, which I was turned on to by a Portuguese woman before I was a winemaker....

I have not found the reds I can find here in America to be the equal of the white wines. In general warmer climates do not produce as good red wines as many red wine grape need a much longer and cooler growing season.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Rose Mateus and Lancers were "created" by a New York Department store that married cheap Portuguese wines with a clay bottle. The product was a huge hit here in America.

Giu, Thanks for a very good post

[WouldaShoulda]

Originally Posted by Freesail99

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Rose Mateus and Lancers were "created" by a New York Department store that married cheap Portuguese wines with a clay bottle. The product was a huge hit here in America.

Giu, Thanks for a very good post

In the 70's, I don't think anyone actually drank it, they just poured it out and stuck candles in the bottles!!

[mazzy]

Giu,
I had a couple of bottles (over the course of a weekend!) of a great red that I really enjoyed. Alas, the bottles went in the recycling bin and, in my wine-induced haze, I did not remember to record the name. The brand was something like "Porca de Merchau", or, I assuumed, "Fat of the Merchant".
Of course, someone's going to point out to me that the stuff is the "Yellow Tail" of Portugese wines. Doen't matter, I found it very enjoyable and would love to get a case.
Mike

[Giulietta]

The wine you had was Porca de Murça CLICK HERE. (Murça is a small town in the North, Porca means pig or sow)..it's a history rich area as the Stone pigs date back to 400 BC See here

The wine is Great wine, from the North of Portugal..really Great wines, very tasty and easy to drink..

which did you have? Red or white?

[mazzy]

That's the one. Delicious red. I believe it was in the $10-12 range, and that was for the Riserva. Gonna find some more.
Thanks,
Mike

[tdw]

The few bottles I brought back with me from Portugal have long since bitten the dust and were much enjoyed.

I've long been something of a Spainophile and thoroughly enjoy Spanish wines but I have to say that the Portuguese that I've drunk have been at least as good as any Spanish when it comes to reds and quite frankly better when it came to whites. I must admit something of a liking for the Portuguese Vino Verde. (I think thats correct). Fabulous stuff. Thats not to put down Spanish wine, its merely saying how good the Portuguese is.

I'm a bit like Alex in that I am no connoisseur of wines I just love drinkin' the stuff. To eat without wine is just not something I understand. (except if its Sake with Japanese or Korean and beer with BBQ)

Now when it comes to Olive Oil.......Portugal Rools...I have tasted the very best from Spain and Italy......did not match the quality of the Portuguese and that stunned me I must admit.

[Joel73]

I'm just passing through and in the middle of work... so not much time but thanks Alex for starting this thread... i'll be back!

In the meantime... Here are a couple of excellent wines we had while visiting with Alex & his family.

Vinho Verde... the first time i had one that i actually liked and it was this one... We all shared it during lunch in Óbidos... a very unique town that resides entirely inside a castle... amazing place.


This Reserve from 2004 is excellent... we have one bottle remaining that we are saving for a special occasion... which will probably be the performance by Mariza that we just bought tickets to. Maybe we'll pay a corkage fee and take it to dinner with us.


ok... gotta run... more later!!!!

[Freesail99]

I must admit something of a liking for the Portuguese Vino Verde. (I think that's correct). Fabulous stuff. That's not to put down Spanish wine, its merely saying how good the Portuguese is.

Wonderful low alcohol wine about 8.5 to 9% by volume. It is bottled very young and devolps a slight sparkle. It dances across your tongue as you drink it.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by Freesail99

Wonderful low alcohol wine about 8.5 to 9% by volume. It is bottled very young and devolps a slight sparkle. It dances across your tongue as you drink it.

That's the stuff. Lovely. I'm trying to hunt down a case or two in Sydney for lunchtime drinking over the holidays. Hot weather, seafood or cold cuts and anti pasto....mmmmmmm