Smooth, fresh Portugese red blend at a bargain price!
When it comes to red wine, Portugal is a land steeped in tradition. This long and narrow country is quite small, however, its great diversity of climate and landscape provides a wealth of terroir perfect for its many traditional indigenous grape varieties. Few of the standard European red wine grapes are grown here. Instead, you'll find blends featuring Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Roriz (know as Tempranillo in Spain), and Touriga Franca, along with an extensive list of other indigenous varietals. In addition to being the foundation of Port -- Portugal's famous fortified dessert wine-- these grapes are used to produce wonderful dry red table wines. This week's featured wine is a blend of 30% Castelao, 30% Aragonez, 30% Trincadeira Preta, and the remaining 10% is a field blend.
The Tejo wine region.
You'll find the Tejo wine region in central Portugal, just a quick drive from the capital city of Lisbon. The area surrounding the Tejo River, steeped in wine history and viticulture, has been an active and very important part of the region since Roman times. Like most of the world's wine producing areas, the influence of the region's river provides ideal conditions along the river banks and surrounding plains for the multitude of local grape varieties. The gentle hills and sloping plains feature vineyards that are a mixture of clay and limestone soils with patches of schist -- all encouraging the vines to dig deeper for nourishment and moisture.
Located close to the right bank of the Tejo River, Adega de Almeirim is one of Portugal's largest cooperatives. With close to 200 members farming more than 2000 hectares of vines, this economy of scale allows for the super high production quality at bargain basement prices. Add António Ventura (Portuguese Oenologist of the year in 2006) to this recipe and you have an unbeatable combination.
Smooth Medium-Bodied Goodness
Adega de Almeirim Lezíria Tinto is a smooth, medium-bodied red, typical of the Tejo. The bright ruby color leads to a super fresh, velvety palate of dark red berries, black cherry and gentle spice. This vibrant beam of dark red fruits leads through the palate to a wonderfully long and clean finish. This is definitely another perfect "Tuesday Night Turkey Burger Wine" that will pair with an endless array of foods - chicken, pork, game birds, soups, stews, and even pasta and pizza. Hammond and I had a glass of this with pasta in red sauce and steamed mussels and it was perfect!
Crack this one during the week and save your big blockbuster reds for that steak on the weekend!
Regular price here at the AWM: $12.99
$11.04 In a case, mixed or solid
Don't worry if you can't make it into the shop this week. Just phone with a credit card number and we'll hold your purchase in our cellar for pickup at your convenience.
828.253.0060