FFW 2021 Wine Catalogue

A feast forwine lovers in its diversity, complexity, anduniqueness. Portugal is home toamassive variety ofwine styles becauseof threemain factors: terroir, Portugal’s thriving array of indigenous grapes, and its longwine-makinghistory. Ineach region,much like inFrance, numerous grapes areblended to form thewine –making it difficult toget togripswith the numerous varieties. ThePortuguese regions bring huge climatic and stylisticdifferences too. Portugal is of course known for its Port, which is shippedeachyear fromOportoandmadeon the steep terraces of theDouro. Themost famous Port ‘Shippers’ have a longAnglo-Portuguesehistory, including Warre , Graham , Taylor and Dow . Inexcellent years in the vineyards theymanage andown theywill declare a ‘vintage’ andbottle a vintagePort. Inother years their produce is variouslymade into ‘LateBottled Vintage’ andTawny, both less expensive andcomplex but highlydelicious. Increasingly Portugal is known for its ‘table’ wines – still anddry. Thediversity of grape varieties, and terroir and the recent influxof trainedoenologists fromwine schools – notablyUCDavis andMelbourne – to take advantageof cheaper start-upcosts and already-mature vines are responsible for the resurgence. This trend towards the specific – vineyards andgrower-winemakers estatebottling their produce – onlybegan in the 1950swhen thePort house Ferreira released BarcaVelha – a single vineyardwine from thehighDouro. Prior to this,merchantswould simply makeblends fromvats ofwine! So, a lot has changed. Portugal

PORTUGAL

for grapes –wetwinters keep thewater table topped up; the summer is bright but not – usually – toohot though times areof course changingon that front. In thenorthnear SpanishGalicia youfind the gorgeous Albarino (Alvarinho)whichproduces fruitydry whites, suitable for seafoodanda great foil for those looking for a freshchange fromSauvignonBlanc. VinhoVerde is verywell knownandeasilydrunk, so-called for its green taste rather than the colour of thewhitewinesmade there. Indeed, 2/3s ofMinho’s VinhoVerdeproduction is red. Bairrada canmake age-worthywine fromtheBaga grape, whichbecomes quite ethereal andBurgundianwithage. Between theAtlantic and theDaohills, Bairradahas cooling influence andclay soils. It’s rarely foundas a single varietal though. Alentejo in the southbrings deep rich reds as climatewarms anddries. Finally,Madeira – amagical, almost indestructible, winemost commonlydrunk as dessertwine. The heat on the island leads to sugary grapes that retain highacidity. 400mileswest ofMorocco,Madeira’s history of shipping thewines onwest-bound ships to theAmericas and thenback toEurope, fortifiedwith Brandy,mellowed theMalvasia grape andmade it palatable. Thewinewas useful incombatting scurvy toboot! Bottles fromthe 1800s are still drinkingwell and in their prime, withnoneed for cellaringor cool storage. It is no longerwidely consumedbut lookout for oldbottles of Blandy’s and Cossart for topquality. Notable independent shippers include Henriques& Henriques , Barbeito and HMBorges . Tom Meade

Thenorthern two-thirds of the country is ideal

OPORTO

CLASSIC GRAPE VARIETALS Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Cão SOIL TYPE Schist

FAVOURITE PRODUCERS

AREA UNDER VINE 38,000ha of which 26,000 is authorised for Port

Taylor, Graham, Warre, Croft, Cockburn, Dow and Fonseca.

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WINE CATALOGUE