Wine of the Week
Bairrada Frei Joao Reserva -2001 Caves Sao Joao - Beiras, Portugal
BC Liquor - $24.99
Kits Wine Cellar - $29.99
My Vivino Score: 4 star
This week I bring you one of the best values I have found for a 14yr old wine! If you want to see if you like older wines, because they tend to be too expensive and offer a different flavour spectrum. Not all people are into the dusty cigar box, figs, leathery, tar, and what not that some old wines can taste like. Give this a try, good value, plus the label's made of cork, and it has a hand drawn number on it! Radbad!
This wine hails from the Bairrada wine region in Portugal. A country once known only for their fortified Port wines; Portugal has had a resurgence and now also makes some really nice big powerful wines. I have been exploring a few Portuguese wines lately and I have been pleasantly surprised with their character.
The more popular regions of Douro and Dao both offer really great value and are usually a blend of native grapes. Touriga Nacional tends to be the main grape and also one of my favorites. This grape can offer some of the biggest chewiest tannins out there, and is rarely found outside of Portugal. The wines from Bairrada are mostly made from the Baga grape; which has really high acidity and tannins that can make it harsh and tough. Traditionally this grape needed 20yrs cellaring to soften it, but modern wine making techniques have helped them get it out to us quicker.
If you really feel like splurging and exploring older wines, I saw Kits Wine Cellar has the 1995 and 1989 vintages of this same wine. I would be more than happy to help you drink them, and tell you how great they are, and how great you are for buying the wines and how great it is you're sharing them with me. I have shared, gifted, and drank this wine; plus today I guiltily bought another bottle to go into the cellar (wine fridge) to age for a few more years. So go get it now, before I end up buying them all :)
Tasting Note:
This wine gave me; ripe black cherry, raisins, fig, some baking spice, vanilla oak notes,
and maybe a hint of liquorice. A rustic but vibrant wine with lots of little nuances gripping your tongue as they dance by. Improves with an 1hr+ decanting, and would go well with food.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Can age really save a marginal wine?
ReplyDeleteGood question Kurt, and the answer most of the time is no. What some people don't realize is that over 90% of wine is made for immediate consumption; meaning they are to be drank within 2-3yrs of bottling. After that their flavours start to drop off, and they become dull and stale. Age-ability mainly comes from the the actual DNA of the vine, and high acidity and high tannins also play a key role. Most white wines don't age well either, but sweet wines will, as the residual sugar helps them age
DeleteA marginal wine is a marginal wine; no tricks or amount of bottle age can change that. Barrel aging can sometimes help a inferior wine, but the cost of keeping in barrel will quickly make the price unreasonable for average wine.