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Wine Details
Price:
$25.00 per bottle
Description:
Luscious blueberry and ripe blackberry fill the palate, and the sweetness of the wine just intensifies the characters. The spice on the mid-palate and nose surrounds itself with notes of nutmeg and cinnamon and a hint of woodiness.
Sit back and relax while this wine blossoms, or enjoy its intensity with strong cheeses such as stilton. But definitely give yourself the time to relax and enjoy!
Alvarahao—Intense color with incredible canned cherry fruit and a luscious mid-palate. Touriga Nacional—Good color with a spicy nose and a lingering blackberry finish. Sousao—Intense color, great berry fruit and a structured backbone. Tinta Cao—Great color, good body and deep plum characters. Tinta Roriz—Interesting complex nose with a well-balanced palate. Bastardo—Horrible color (light brown at best), but extremely intriguing as a variety. It marries all the other varieties, acting as a bridge between characters. Tinta Amarella—Very small production, which is always field blended.
Each of the individual port lots was a great stand-alone port this year, but still the whole is greater (and more complex) than the sum of its parts!
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Varietal Definition
Tinto Cao:
Portuguese red grape variety which is used for port wine. Grows in small bunches, the grapes are medium sized with a thick skin. The difference with the other port grapes is that it produces wines with a lower alcohol concentration. Just like the Touriga Nacional it is less productive with regard to total crop size turnover. It is especially used in the port blends for its flowery aroma and fruity taste. Smallest of all port varieties, but growing in popularity.
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Tinta Roriz:
This grape is also known as Tempranillo in Spain and is the only key 'Port' variety that is widely planted outside of Portugal. Tinta Roriz produces large crops that can vary widely in quality depending on the vintage and the vineyard site. Its wines can range from light in body to full bodied with heavy tannins. It is not a grape that makes very good wine on its own but it can be useful when used as a 'spice grape' in a blend.
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Touriga Nacional:
Found in California and South Africa, this fiercest and best of the port grapes has also been successfully transplanted to Australia for fortified wine production. The vine produces grapes with small, darkly-pigmented berries. Notorious for low yields, attributes like its intense rich fruit personality make this grape a highly-regarded and sought after varietal. In addition to being important in port production, it is also increasingly significant in the rich, red table wines of Portugal’s Dao and Douro valleys.
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