Spanish & Portuguese Wine News: Exciting New Arrivals from Portugal

By: Joe Manekin | K&L Spanish & Portuguese Wine Buyer

Boa tarde Portuguese and Spanish wine lovers,

After a bit of an hiatus, Portugal finallly returns to the spotlight on this email list, as we just received in our long awaited wines from one of the Iberian peninsula's most exciting wineries.  Based in the Lima sub-zone of Vinho Verde, Aphros embodies some of the traits which make Portuguese wines (Spanish as well, of course) so exciting right now. Thoughtful, responsible (in this case biodynamic) crop cultivation, intellectual curiosity, a restless creative spirit, and an emphasis on crafting honestly made, brightly acidic, energetic, delicious wines for drinking!

Vasco Croft is a furniture designer and architect by training, who was a student of Steiner and biodynamics long before he began making wine. His keen fashion sense and Hollywood good looks (a composite of Owen Wilson and Richard Gere, perhaps?) may make him popular with the ladies, but it is his range of delicious vinho verdes which has quickly earned him some fans in the Bay Area. 

We have chosen to focus on two wines you are not likely to see too much of, locally or elsewhere for that matter.  One is an amazingly, lip smackingly good bottle of 10% ABV vinho verde from loureiro grapes.  The other is a thought provoking rosé nearly the color of red wine, but with bracing acidity and refreshingly tangy red fruit - one of my two favorite rosés of the season in fact (right up there with Pradeaux Bandol, another direct press rosé, albeit in a very different style).  This one is from the dark skinned, dark pulp vinhao grape.  It's too bad we have had to wait until August for this rosé; fortunately though our warmest summer days are yet to come. 

I'd be remiss if I were not to mention the winery's excellent top of the line red, as well, produced from hand harvested vinhao grapes grown in granitic soil, a really spicy, beautiful expression of the grape and granite soil (think Northern Rhone on this one).

2011 Aphros Vinhao Rosé Vinho Verde - $14.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1109049  

2011 Aphros "Ten" Loureiro Vinho Verde - $14.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1109043  

2009 Aphros "Silenus" Vinhao Vinho Verde - $39.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1109054  

Obrigado and Saude,

-Joe  

---

Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com

Spanish & Portuguese Wine News 3/1/12: Portuguese News, Finally!

By: Joe Manekin

K&L Spanish & Portuguese Wine Buyer

Greetings all,

This week, we are making up for lost time, giving Portugal its well deserved propers.   With about a decade of age on them, the wines below from Quinta dos Roques and Quinta das Maias, in the Dao region, should appeal to the more curious amongst you and those of you who, like me, love to see how wines develop after years of bottle age.  In the Dao, it is more common to see red wines with moderate alcohol (typically 13-13.5%), good acidity, and obvious minerality than in the wines of their northern neighbors in the Douro.  You may remember the 03 Quinta dos Roques Reserva we offered some time ago.  These wines are a little spendier but arguably more mineral, more youthful tasting, more interesting.  Quinta dos Roques also produces a lovely, refreshing white wine with a sneaky ability to age gracefully at least 5-6 years beyond the vintage.

2010 Quintas dos Roques Encruzado Dao - $16.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1086754

2002 Quinta das Maias Jaen Dao - $18.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1086752

2003 Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional Dao - $19.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1086753

Saude (that's "Salud" in Portuguese),

Joe

---

Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com

Spanish & Portuguese Wine News 1/5/12: Delicious, obscure Portuguese wines...plus Rioja and Ribera Del Duero Tastings this Saturday in all K&L locations!

By: Joe Manekin | K&L Spanish and Portuguese Wine Buyer

Greetings Iberiophiles,

Short post this week as we assess what new stuff we need after the busy season.  I have a delicious, somewhat obscure pair of wine suggestions this week, from the sandy pre-phylloxera vineyards of the Colares region outside of Lisboa, Portugal. Ramisco is the grape variety, and the two wines below show a distinctive intense, ever so slightly rustic quality, paired with enough fruit and the sort of fresh profile that makes you wonder out loud: "I can't believe this is Portugal!"  Not that Portugal is incapable of producing fresh, balanced, lower alcohol red wines. In fact, wines such as these help to readily disprove that point.

The first of these two wines is from relatively younger vines, with less fruit intensity but lovely balance.  And the second, bottled as a 500ml, shows amazing intensity and structure.  This is an example of a Colares wine which Portuguese connoisseurs collect, and that has proven to be the country's longest ageing red (I've heard of wines from the 1950's showing beautifully, something akin to a fully mature Barolo).  I suppose we will have to all find out for ourselves, though.

2007 Adega Regional Colares Tinto Chao Rioja Colares - $14.99 

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1081015

2004 Adega Regional Colares Arenae Colares (500ml) - $39.99

 http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1081008

Also, I would like to encourage you all to stop in this Saturday to Redwood City (1-4pm), San Francisco (12-3pm) or Hollywood (3-5:30pm) for a Rioja and Ribera del Duero focused tasting.  Without mentioning specific wines (the line-ups are different in each store) I will say that the two northern California tastings will have some very cool mini horizontals from both regions, featuring traditional as well as modern producers.  It's always fun to taste with an open mind, compare the different styles, and possibly dispel any prejudices you may have (I do, admittedly, have some about these wines myself).  In Hollywood, the line-up has a bit more Rioja, and will show the amazing range of styles in the region, while showing a few great examples of Ribera del Duero as well.  The Tempranillo grape is the focus, so come in and see how different "terruño" as well as cellar technique affects the profile of these classic Spanish wines.

Un saludo,

Joe

---

Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com