#90- Periquita

I'm writing this blog to actually take a break from my wine studies (that and my butt was going number from sitting on the floor for so long). I am in the home stretches of my Wine Fundamentals I class from the International Sommelier Guild. Our final exam is on Wednesday and I have been busy making flash cards of my notes so I can study hard for the next few days. I've even booked my sister for tomorrow night so that she can test me. Maybe we'll make a drinking game out of it (for every question I get right, I get to sip!). Now there's some liquid encouragement for you!

The Periquita grape is also known as the Castelao grape in other parts of the world but in Portual, and where this wine is from, it's known by it's more popular name, the Periquita grape. Now, this isn't a single varietal wine I'm drinking as it's especially hard to find but it is 95% Periquita so for the purposes of what I'm trying to accomplish, it is.

The grape is found in southern coastal regions and is sometimes used in the production of port. If you can speak portugese, you know the word periquita means parrot. It is a very tannic wine in its youth but does soften as it ages. The year I'm drinking is a 2006.

The wine is Jose Maria Da Fonseca Periquita. Aside from the crazy annoying music that greets you on their website, the site is great looking and fun to browse through.

What's interesting is in the description of the wine- right off the bat I'm at odds with them. They describe their wine as full bodied and intensly coloured while I would not say either. And not in a bad way either. The wine is not as intense as I thought it would be. To me, it's similar to a Pinot Noir or Gamay. And I certainly don't find it at all to be a full bodied grape. It's complex but at most medium bodied.

Off the nose I get some strawberries but the smell of alcohol seems to take over. Sipping the wine, I get a balanced and fruity wine, but the tannins to me are still quite intense with a medium acidity to it. It takes some getting used to. I drink it alone tonight but last night I paired it with a grilled steak done to medium rare along with a Mediterrannean salad and I felt they were a perfect complement to each other.

What was interesting to me is the lack of quality in the cork. After all, Portugal is the main producer of cork for the wine world. Apparently they give all the good cork to France. The cork barely held together as I popped it out of the bottle.

I would drink this wine again, but I would make sure to drink it with food for sure. It is not a sipping wine at all (though they do suggest that you can with this wine on the website). Oh those Portugese.

I can't believe I'm only 10 wines away from accomplishing a goal I'd set out to do nearly two years ago. And 14 wines and I've met my goal of sipping one wine a week for two years. I'm not sure if I'll continue this blog or not or maybe shift its vision a bit, we'll see how the next few weeks goes!

#62- Baga

I have to admit something- it's been a few weeks since I tasted this wine and I didn't take great notes- so much so I can't even tell you what I ate with the wine. But I do remember one thing, I had no issue drinking it and I remember thinking that I liked the wine. Beyond that, not much.

The winery is Luis Pato in Portugal and the wine is their red label Baga wine. It has a distinct flavour to the wine, with chocolate undertones (and what girl doesn't like that?) It is also a great cellar wine as the wine is good for a decade or so.

Not much is written on the Baga grape but it is quite acidic and therefore quite tannic.

This is a terrible entry as I have nothing really more to say, I can't even describe how it went with the food or have pics to share. I'm guessing I'll give this wine another try so I can do a proper review. In the meantime, the blog stands as is and as far as I remember, I liked the wine! Have another one Erin....

#58- Touriga Nacional

It is not a subtle wine by any stretch of the imagination. This nearly black in colour heavyweight leaves a lasting impression on you for sure. The Touriga Nacional wine is a wine to behold, and love. Needless to say, this wine didn't last long between the wine drinkers.

I picked this bottle of wine up at Liquor Select and it was, for our standards, a very cheap wine- $15.49!! I had a ton of fun actually at Liquor Select. Christina was very helpful and once she found out what I was doing for the blog, she went out of her way to help me grapes that I hadn't tasted yet. We managed to find nine and I bought a dozen bottle for my 10% discount!

I did note that the wine was quite acidic or tannic (though it's supposed to be quite moderate but not this one!). The winery is the Alianca Winery from Portugal. The Touriga Nacional grape is often considered Portugal's finest grape and judging by this wine, I think I'll agree.

The bottle describes the wine, aged in French oak barrels for 12 months, is a warm, mouth filling wine with great concentration and structure. What a fantastic description. Again, I'm really starting to like oaky red wines and this one fits the bill. It's not too overpowering  at all and just slides nicely down throat. What struck me though is how well the fruit came through in the wine and blended nicely with the oak.

The winery recommends pairing it with a meaty dish or casserole so I dug into the meal my mom gave me (have I mentioned that I haven't gone shopping in weeks and am running out of food?)- so she sent me home with some chili. And it was a perfect match.

Bringing it to dad's birthday celebration, Kristin, my mom and Craig managed to polish off a lot of wine, including this one. But all three of them liked it (I think- I may have forgotten to ask). While this is a wine not to be drunk by the white wine lover, if you appreciate a full bodied wine, the Touriga Nacional grape is for you. So a big happy Valentine's to this red as well- all thumbs up. We drank another red that night that is coming up for review in a couple of days....and let's put it this way-- we're on a wine roll!

#50- Alicante Bouschet

The reds are getting thumbs up a lot these days (including from Craig) and this wine is no different! The Alicante grape is from Portugal and is also known as Alicante Bouschet. It's also named after the city of Alicant in Portugal. The grape is also fairly unique as it has flesh to it (most grapes used for wine don't)

The wine was bought again at Sherbrooke Liquor store the day I went in and found 8 grapes I hadn't yet tried. The bottle was a reasonable $21.99. The winery is the Grand D'Arte Winery.

The first thing I noticed about this wine is how spicy it is! It left a deep tingling sensation on my lips and the spices came out quite nicely with the wine. Drunk on Christmas Eve, this wine paired nicely with the tortiere my mother made for us (okay, store bought but usually it is homemade and hers is better anyway. As you can see by the colour of the tortiere below, it was definitely lacking something!).

Also noted for taste in this wine is plum and vanilla which you can actually taste. The blend is wonderful and just dances on your lips. It's also very dry and has very high alcohol content (14%) but very very good nonetheless.

The wine is also extremely dark, almost black in appearance. Drop something in your wine and you won't be finding it any time soon (until you drink your way to it I suppose). 

This is one wine Craig hasn't tried yet but I'm sure he'll get around to it- just a few more to go and he's all caught up!