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WINE OF THE WEEK: Altano Organic Douro 2017, Portugal

Feb 20, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Altano Organic Douro 2017, Portugal

£10.50–£11.80, Booths, Waitrose, Davy's Wine, Tanners Wine, The Wine Shop (Knaresborough) I'd like to think that my venture into mouthwatering dry Riesling for last week's wine lifted the putative winter gloom. It certainly did nothing to improve the weather, so this week I'm back with a full-on winter red, although that doesn't mean it's not suitable for summer. It's an excellent barbecue red, but it's a bit cruel to mention summer and barbecues in current conditions. Altano

WINE OF THE WEEK: Casa Da Passarella Somontes Branco 2017, Serra da Estrela, Dão, Portugal

Mar 21, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Casa Da Passarella Somontes Branco 2017, Serra da Estrela, Dão, Portugal

£11.95, Davy's Portugal isn't as known for its dry white wines, other than Vinho Verde, as it deserves to be. Dão is certainly much more familiar for its reds, but this branco is exactly what I like about Portuguese whites: medium-full and quite succulent with a lip-smacking, almost bracing salty mineral character, juicy lime and herb flavours and a hint of spicy white pepper. The grape varieties are Encruzado, Malvasia and Verdelho and part of the key to the wine's quality a

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tanners Super Douro Reserva 2015, Douro, Portugal

Aug 23, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tanners Super Douro Reserva 2015, Douro, Portugal

£14.50, Tanners Wines It was a hard choice: Tanners Côtes du Rhône, an absolute charmer from the very good 2016 vintage, or this Douro red. In the end I settled on the dark, full-bodied, oak-matured Reserva, partly because it went irresistibly well with a magret de canard and Pyrenees sheep's cheese that I was eating. It's made by Duorum Vinhos with input from Tanners, using classic port grapes led by Touriga Nacional, and is aged in French oak, which gives depth and toasty e

WINE OF THE WEEK: Altano Douro Branco 2016, Douro, Portugal

Aug 10, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: Altano Douro Branco 2016, Douro, Portugal

£8.50, The Wine Society I’ve been following this delicious unoaked white from the outset and each vintage more than lives up to its predecessor, the 2016 combining candied citrus fruit and grapefruit zest with the Douro’s characteristic smoky, stony, mineral flavour. It's a blend of local varieties, including Malvasia Fina and Moscatel Galego, from vineyards high up in the Douro Valley belonging to the Symingtons, a remarkable family who own 26 individual wine estates and Gra

Weird and wonderful grape varieties

May 9, 2017

Weird and wonderful grape varieties

“Some of the wines are available in the UK; others are so rare it is unlikely that you will be able to find much literature on them,” said the email from an MW. I’d have gone a long way and spent hours in a cold, damp cellar to taste the wines made from these grape varieties, but I didn’t have to. They were going to be served at a six-course dinner in the private dining room of Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill. It was not an invitation to turn down. So I didn’t. Nor did the Presid

Is co-fermentation the new black for Port?

Oct 29, 2016

Is co-fermentation the new black for Port?

Co-fermenting – fermenting different grape varieties together happened by default in the past It was a while since I’d been in the Douro when I went last month. The last time I was on a port mission it was to research the ageing and blending of Tawny ports, so I spent some time investigating casks of slumbering Tawny in the lodges in Oporto and spent even more time ensconced in a plain white tasting room with three blenders and hundreds of samples of Tawny port. On the recent

WINE OF THE WEEK: F'Oz Dão 2013, Portugal

Jun 16, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: F'Oz Dão 2013, Portugal

£9.99, Laithwaites I was going to recommend this velvety Portuguese red a while back but it was out of stock everywhere. It’s now available again and every bit as good as it was, and Laithwaites has a next-day delivery option (£8.99 – only £1 more than their standard delivery charge) should you need it for Fathers’ Day or a weekend barbecue. People are sometimes surprised to hear that Portuguese wines are some of the best value around, but it’s because there’s a wonderful arr

WINE OF THE WEEK: Graham's 10 Year Old Tawny Port

Dec 24, 2015

WINE OF THE WEEK: Graham's 10 Year Old Tawny Port

£16 (on offer), Sainsbury's Waitrose, Ocado, £19, Oddbins This is a bottle to pick up if you’re still rushing around buying last-minute presents, or if you want a port for cheese that doesn’t need decanting, or if you want something to serve with mince pies, chocolate, or dried fruit and nuts. In a stylish, clear glass, dumpy bottle to show off its colour, it’s a rich, luscious Tawny with flavours of dried and fresh figs, nuts, toffee and spices. To get the full effect, remem

WINE OF THE WEEK: João Portugal Ramos Vinho Verde Loureiro 2014

Oct 15, 2015

WINE OF THE WEEK: João Portugal Ramos Vinho Verde Loureiro 2014

£7.99, cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk and Adnams stores Hear this: Portuguese wines are some of the most overlooked and underrated and you don’t have to go very far to find them. There are lots of warming, velvety reds around, from Dão, the Douro and Alentejo, but we can’t drink wall-to-wall reds from here until next spring, so here’s a wonderfully zippy white. Light in body but not on flavour, it has a delicately honeyed, citrus and quince taste with a hint of baked apple and