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Quinta do Mouro Vinha do Mouro Branco 2021
Origin: Alentejo, Portugal
Retail: $19.95 | Sale: $17.96
In 1979, Miguel Louro won a poker game that eventually led him to buy Quinta do Mouro located in Estremoz in northern Alentejo. Ten years later, Miguel began planting vines on 6 hectares but quickly realized that in order to achieve his goals, he would have to adopt a peculiar viticulture. He focuses on making atypical wines full of personality that defy typical winemaking and market trends. Combining science and poetry, today the vineyard boasts 33 hectares of vines grown in schist soils with no irrigation and low production. Miguel relies on manual harvesting, foot treading in lagares, spontaneous fermentation, and aging in rustic Portuguese and French oak barrels. Citrus notes with fresh minerality and pleasing weight and structure. Blend of Arinto, Verdelho, Alvarinho, Rabigato, Gouveio and Síria.
Hugo Mendes Lisboa Branco 2021
Origin: Lisbon, Portugal
Retail: $24.95 | Sale: $22.46
Hugo Mendes originally trained as a biomedical engineer, but in 2004 he worked his first wine harvest and decided to entirely change his career. He became a winemaker, and for 11 years worked in cellars and consulted all over Portugal. In 2016, however, tired of making wines to other people’s specifications, he decided to strike out on his own, even though it was financially difficult. Since that first vintage, however, Hugo has skyrocketed to the heights of Portuguese wine culture. He has become well known for his efforts to help build up a new, younger, more dynamic Portuguese wine community and the endless creativity of his wine making. Hugo is now based in Alenquer, just north of Lisbon along the Tagus river. Here, about 40 km east of the Atlantic, the climate becomes slightly more Mediterranean, with warmer days and less humidity, yet still with the region’s characteristic chalky/clay soils. He uses the climate to his advantage, making wines of juicy verve that are at once the archetypal expression of Lisboa yet also totally crushable. This wine has a lovely herbaceous entry and the palate brings some added layers of complexity - acidity, floral nuance, a kiss of spice - as the wine reaches the finish. 45% Arinto, 45% Fernao Pires, and 10% Vital.
Carlos Raposo Touriga Nacional 2022
Origin: Dão, Portugal
Retail: $21.95 | Sale: $19.76
The Dão is one of the most unique wine growing regions in the world. Surrounded by mountains, including Portugal’s tallest mountain range – Serra da Estrela – the climate is one of the coolest, and relatively dry, regions in Portugal, making it comparable to Burgundy. Carlos Raposo has been actively studying and making wine professionally since he was 15 and has worked in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa, and with famed Portuguese winemaker Dirk Niepoort. In 2020, Carlos founded World Wide Wines, a project focused on old vineyards from the Dao, farmed with organic and biodynamic methods, to create elegant wines above all else. Impecavel is an unoaked expression of one of Portugal’s most popular grapes, which are then fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. Fresh, herbal, and floral, this medium-bodied red bursts with fresh cherry, while incorporating the subtle complexity of its cooler vineyard sites. 100% Touriga Nacional
XXVI Talhas Tinto do Tareco 2022
Origin: Alentejo, Portugal
Retail: $27.95 | Sale: $25.16
In the Alentejo region of southern Portugal, there is an old tradition of making wine in talhas, or clay amphorae, which has been done since Roman times. XXVI Talhas was started in the small village of Vila Alva by four friends to honor and promote this way of winemaking. The team inherited an adega, or wine cellar, from Vila Alva local ‘Mestre’ Daniel António Tabaquinho dos Santos with 26 talhas already in place, giving the winery its name. In this adega is where Daniel made his wine and ran his carpentry business for 30 years. Of the 26 talhas, 22 are made of clay and the other four are made of reinforced cement. Talha wine undergoes spontaneous fermentation in the clay amphorae and the wine is stored there until St. Martin’s Day (November 11), when winemakers open the clay amphorae to taste, share with the village, and then immediately bottle the wine. A tareco is a small clay pot that the people of Vila Alva use to make their own version of talha wines and Tinto do Tareco pays homage to that tradition. Red fruited with some jammy fruit notes yet still dry and elegant with a lasting finish. Pairs perfectly with grilled and roasted meats. Blend of Trincadeira, Aragonez, and Tinta Grossa.