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15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What two parties, in a joint venture to produce premium red wine in the Douro, are putting the icing on the cake for Portugal's fine wine reputation?
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Bruno Prats, former owner and winemaker of Château Cos d'Estournel
The Symington family of port fame |
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In the past, what wines had always typified the sort of wines we had come to expect from Portugal?
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Dão, with its dried-out, fruitless reds and dull, heavy, oxidized whites.
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Around what year did the tide turn for Portugese wines? What were the first wines to change?
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In 1995 deliciously fruity, easily accessible reds and fresh, crisp whites came on stream and, like a true revolution, the change started at the lowest levels, with wines such as Alta Mesa and Ramada from Estramadura. At the time these were, and still are, some of the cheapest wines in the world. They had already turned heads by being clean, easy-drinking wines from what was formerly considered a lackluster wine country but, with the vintages of 1994 and 1995, they suddenly had twice the fruit, which gave them instant gulpability and gained them international recognition.
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What was the 2006 vintage like in Portugal?
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2006, Portugal:
Some excellent white wines, with Setúbal Moscatels standing out, but patchy for red wines due to ripening problems. |
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What was the 2005 vintage like in Portugal?
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2005, Portugal:
A small crop of variable quality, except in Bairrada, Dão, and the Douro, where the best wines are excellent. |
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What was the 2004 vintage like in Portugal?
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2004, Portugal:
An excellent to great year for both reds and whites. |
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What was the 2003 vintage like in Portugal?
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2003, Portugal:
Some excellent reds, and should be a very good vintage port year. |
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What was the 2002 vintage like in Portugal?
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2002, Portugal:
A potentially outstanding red-wine vintage destroyed by pre-harvest rain almost everywhere, the exception being in the Douro, both for still reds, and for single-quinta port. |
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What's the first reason the rush of fruit in Portugese wines has only just begun to filter its way upward through the quality scale?
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This is in part due to the fact that more serious wines took longer to reach the market, thus while we were gulping 1994s and 1995s from Estremadura and other lesser-known Vinhos Regionals, such as Alentejo and Terras do Sado, the 1991s and 1992s from Dão and Bairrada were only just reaching the shelves. A few producers, such as Duque de Viseu in Dão, had got their act together by the early 1990s, but most had not and we still had to get through the dismal 1993 vintage before these more famous regions could show us what they were doing while the likes of Alta Mesa and Ramada were being knocked out.
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What's the other reason the rush of fruit in Portugese wines has only just begun to filter its way upward through the quality scale?
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The other reason for the delayed action in Portugal's fine-wine regions is that producers had until relatively recently been forced to buy wines. Quite extraordinarily, it was illegal for them to buy grapes. Most growers involved in the bulk market barely have a grasp of how to cultivate vines, let alone ferment wines, so being able to buy grapes has enabled firms like Sogrape (which makes Duque de Viseu) to have much greater control over the quality of the final product. When and if the same growers ever learn to grow grapes properly, the recent surge in quality will seem nothing and Portugal's finest wine areas should be catapulted to superstardom.
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What is the style of genuine Vinho Verde?
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Genuine Vinho Verde is sharp, may be slightly fizzy, but should always be totally dry, either delicately or raspingly dry, depending primarily on the grape varieties used.
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What are the best grape varieties for Vinho Verde?
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Alvarinho
Loureiro |
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Discuss the Alvarinho grape of Vinho Verde. What sort of Vinhos Verdes does it produce? Who is the best producer?
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Alvarinho:
The Alvarinho is a low-cropping variety that is more at home in the northern part of the Minho, between the Lima Valley and the Spanish border. It produces the most substantial Vinhos Verdes, with alcohol levels of 12.5% ABV, compared to the norm of 9.5-10%. Palácio da Brejoeira is the yardstick for this grape, and widely considered to be a class apart from any other Vinho Verde. |
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Discuss the Loureiro grape of Vinho Verde. Is it light-cropping or heavy-cropping? What sorts of wines does it produce?
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The Loureiro is a heavier-cropping variety than the Alvarinho, producing aromatic wines.
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What are the most successful grapes for red Vinho Verde? What are the wines like?
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Vinhão
Azal Tinto Espadeiro The best examples of these deep-purple wines have a peppery smack to them, even if it is quickly washed down the throat in a fizzy rush. |
