ALL ABOARD! A River Voyage on the Trans Douro Express
What comes to mind when you think of wine from Portugal? For many, the answer is simple, “Port!”, it’s right in the name after all. The grapes for Portugal’s most famous fortified wine come from its largest vine growing area, the Douro. And while we adore Port, grapes for making unfortified wine have very much always been a part of the picture in Portugal’s most prolific river valley. The Douro DOC was only established in 1982. The first ambitious Douro red was made by Fernando Nicolau de Almeida, who worked at the time as a winemaker at Ferreira Port. Following a visit to Bordeaux, de Almeida returned to Portugal convinced that high quality unfortified wine could be made from Douro grapes. In 1952, he made the first vintage of Barca Velha. Barca Velha was not popular when it was first released, but now commands super-premium prices and can be ten times the price of good vintage port. Despite de Almeida’s efforts, production of high-quality Douro unfortified wine did not get underway generally until Portugal joined the European Community (now EU) in 1986, bringing the necessary finance to invest in modern winemaking equipment such as stainless-steel tanks with temperature control. Alongside the rest of the country, many young winemakers are focusing their efforts to the potential of making great quality unfortified wines from the treasure trove of native grapes.
Today’s tasting fast forwards, to the 5th generation of the Almeida family - where Mateus Nicolau de Almeida, is making distinctive terroir driven, unfortified wines from the major subzones of the widely diverse Douro Valley in his project: Trans Douro Express. We will explore the Douro over the course of four of Mateus’ wines:
2020 Eremitas ‘Amon de Kelia’ Branco
2020 Trans Douro Express Biaxo Corgo Tinto
2020 Trans Douro Express Cima Corgo Tinto
2019 Trans Douro Express Douro Superior Tinto
Each Thursday evening, from 6:30-7:30 PM, we open 3-4 bottles we find inspiring and thought-provoking. A $5 tasting fee, refundable with the purchase of any bottles from the tasting, gets a guided flight with our Sommelier, Ali Innes.
