Douro Wines in Brighton/Spanish Embassy in London
14-Oct-08 - Excellent tasting of Douro wines (which seem to be flavour of the month: there's another one next week in London) at the Hotel du Vin in Brighton. This was an excellent opportunity to taste a range of wines from this very up-and-coming area - and to experience an excellent lunch as well, in contrast with other meals I've had at various Hotels du Vin since the chain was established.
My first experience of the red wines of the Douro (as opposed to Port) was at the IFE when it used to be at Olympia, about 25 years ago. There was a small stand in the wine section with wines in those traditional, opaque, almost black Port bottles and they were, quite frankly, dreadful. A bit of research revealed that the wines tended to be made from grapes which were 'not good enough for Port' which speaks volumes, of course. Since then a great deal of research has taken place and, indeed, higher vineyards have proved to be ideal for sourcing grapes for wine, whilst the lower vineyards, basking in the heat of summer, produce the best grapes for Port.
I've been to the Douro twice this year and been increasingly impressed by the wine, red and white and the enormous leap in quality that's happened over the past few years. In June I visited Wine & Soul in Vale de Mendiz, about ten minutes north of Pinhão, and tasted their 'garage' wines. This tiny winery is owned by ddg ex-model Sandra Tavares da Silva and her husband Jorge Serôdio Borges, both of whom work as consultant winemakers for other wineries (Jorge at Quinta do Passadouro, see below), but have set up this tiny business for themselves. They make the wine in the old-fashioned way in stone lagares but also have a barrel-fermented white called Guru, and their red is called Pintas. They make a vintage Port as well (but no other styles of Port) and the quality throughout is spectacular.
Me, Sandra Tavares da Silva and Jorge Serôdio Borges
at Wine & Soul. Pic: 'Yes Chef!' magazine.
My second visit to Portugal (courtesy of François Lurton) included a visit to the Mateus Palace near Vila Real. You may have seen it on the labels of Mateus Rosé but the wine they make in the winery there has never been pink and fizzy. The story goes that when Mateus Rosé was 'invented' just after the second world war, the producers thought the palace would look nice on the label, and they asked the Morgado ('squire') of Mateus if they could use it. They offered a one-off payment or a royalty on every bottle sold. The Morgado tasted the wine and opted for the one-off payment. By the late 1980s Mateus was selling some 40 million bottles a year. Anyway, on our visit there was a tasting of the range of wines being produced by Lavradores de Feitoria, a consortium of 15 independent Quintas in the Douro. The wines were particularly good, and I asked the fabulously attractive Olga Martins, who does their marketing, to send me some samples for a less frenetic tasting. I'll let you know when they arrive.
Forward, then, to last Tuesday when the Port and Douro Wine Institute (via Westbury Communications) held a tasting and lunch at the Hotel du Vin in Brighton. This again was a showcase for some of the splendid new-wave wines which are now coming on to the market. A few of them are, shall we say, rather ambitiously priced, but the quality is formidable. I won't go through the whole lot but my top marks (17-18) went to the following:
Drink Me 2006, Niepoort - £9.99 - Ruby//nice warm spicy, some wood//v. clean, well structured, big tannins but big fruit also. Very stylish and elegant finish, long. 17
Duas Quintas Reserva 2004 - £22.00 - Dark ruby//lovely perfumed nose, style, character//very elegant balance. Some wood evident and balanced tannins. Clean, crisp fruit. Good: should develop well. 17
Redoma Tinto 2002, Niepoort - £27.50 - Dark ruby//big, ripe, slightly oily, some smoke and dark fruit//yes! Good big upfront fruit but there's some powerful extraction. Excellent length. 17
Quinta do Passadouro 2005 - £14.19 - Very dark ruby//big warm spice but a lot of subtle fruit//big structure, power, a good tannin/fruit integration. Long, austere at the moment but should mellow. 17
Quinta do Passadouro 2006 - £14.99 - Ruby//lots of spicy oak, fruit coming though, elegant//big tannins but the fruit is there, although rather occluded at the moment. Very austere finish. Tremendous potential 17.
Quinta do Passadouro Reserva 2005 - £27.69 Ruby//warm 'rubber' - austere, clean//big fruit, extraction, structure. Big tannins but the whole thing is working well. Long. 18
Escada red 2005, DFJ Vinhos - £12.99 - Purple/ruby//another 'rubbery' example, bonfire smoke//lovely clean, fresh fruit, tannins kick in on mid-palate. Still rather austere on length. 17
We tasted them again with lunch, which has restored my faith in the Hotel du Vin - in the past I've never been very impressed with the food, although I can't say that I've been that often. However, this was a sensible and simple meal: chicken-liver and foie-gras parfait with onion marmalade and toasted brioche; roast sirloin of beef on crushed new potatoes with a Douro jus; and a selection of cheeses with celery, biscuits and grapes. Just perfect for matching with the wines. I think the Passadouro Reserva did it for me... But at £27.69.
Then it was off to the Spanish embassy in London to join the diplomatic corps for the celebration of Spain's National Day, which is actually on the 12th, but that was a Sunday. Also known as Hispanic Day and Columbus Day, it commemorates the day in 1492 on which, according to his ship's log, Columbus first set foot in the Americas.
There's a thriving diplomatic circuit in London in which embassies typically invite their colleagues round for suitable celebrations on their various national days, and Spain's is always one of the best, as it's held in the Ambassador's residence, a magnificent town house on the corner of Belgrave Square and Chesham Place. The house was built in 1834 and originally the home of the Chairman of the White Star Line, of Titanic fame. Spain acquired the house in 1928 and did extensive refurbishment, with the result that it was restored to its early-Victorian magnificence. The rooms are opulently furnished, grand in scale with pillared porticoes, fabulous paintings and huge, plump, comfortable sofas. We met the Ambassador, Don Carles Casajauna, and his wife Doña Margarita Massanet, as well as senior Embassy staff, and I was fascinated to see that security was being provided by three officers of the Guardia Civil, in full dress uniform including the traditional black 'tricorn' hat.
As ever, the tapas were splendid and the wines flowed freely: I did some fairly serious damage to the Freixenet vintage over the next hour before having to leave to catch my train. Interestingly, there were people still coming in as I went out: as I said, it's a very popular event, and rather busier than my last visit, which was a private dinner with friends and family to celebrate my winning the Premio Especial Alimentos de España in 2006. Happy days!
My first experience of the red wines of the Douro (as opposed to Port) was at the IFE when it used to be at Olympia, about 25 years ago. There was a small stand in the wine section with wines in those traditional, opaque, almost black Port bottles and they were, quite frankly, dreadful. A bit of research revealed that the wines tended to be made from grapes which were 'not good enough for Port' which speaks volumes, of course. Since then a great deal of research has taken place and, indeed, higher vineyards have proved to be ideal for sourcing grapes for wine, whilst the lower vineyards, basking in the heat of summer, produce the best grapes for Port.
I've been to the Douro twice this year and been increasingly impressed by the wine, red and white and the enormous leap in quality that's happened over the past few years. In June I visited Wine & Soul in Vale de Mendiz, about ten minutes north of Pinhão, and tasted their 'garage' wines. This tiny winery is owned by ddg ex-model Sandra Tavares da Silva and her husband Jorge Serôdio Borges, both of whom work as consultant winemakers for other wineries (Jorge at Quinta do Passadouro, see below), but have set up this tiny business for themselves. They make the wine in the old-fashioned way in stone lagares but also have a barrel-fermented white called Guru, and their red is called Pintas. They make a vintage Port as well (but no other styles of Port) and the quality throughout is spectacular.
Me, Sandra Tavares da Silva and Jorge Serôdio Borgesat Wine & Soul. Pic: 'Yes Chef!' magazine.
My second visit to Portugal (courtesy of François Lurton) included a visit to the Mateus Palace near Vila Real. You may have seen it on the labels of Mateus Rosé but the wine they make in the winery there has never been pink and fizzy. The story goes that when Mateus Rosé was 'invented' just after the second world war, the producers thought the palace would look nice on the label, and they asked the Morgado ('squire') of Mateus if they could use it. They offered a one-off payment or a royalty on every bottle sold. The Morgado tasted the wine and opted for the one-off payment. By the late 1980s Mateus was selling some 40 million bottles a year. Anyway, on our visit there was a tasting of the range of wines being produced by Lavradores de Feitoria, a consortium of 15 independent Quintas in the Douro. The wines were particularly good, and I asked the fabulously attractive Olga Martins, who does their marketing, to send me some samples for a less frenetic tasting. I'll let you know when they arrive.
Forward, then, to last Tuesday when the Port and Douro Wine Institute (via Westbury Communications) held a tasting and lunch at the Hotel du Vin in Brighton. This again was a showcase for some of the splendid new-wave wines which are now coming on to the market. A few of them are, shall we say, rather ambitiously priced, but the quality is formidable. I won't go through the whole lot but my top marks (17-18) went to the following:
Drink Me 2006, Niepoort - £9.99 - Ruby//nice warm spicy, some wood//v. clean, well structured, big tannins but big fruit also. Very stylish and elegant finish, long. 17
Duas Quintas Reserva 2004 - £22.00 - Dark ruby//lovely perfumed nose, style, character//very elegant balance. Some wood evident and balanced tannins. Clean, crisp fruit. Good: should develop well. 17
Redoma Tinto 2002, Niepoort - £27.50 - Dark ruby//big, ripe, slightly oily, some smoke and dark fruit//yes! Good big upfront fruit but there's some powerful extraction. Excellent length. 17
Quinta do Passadouro 2005 - £14.19 - Very dark ruby//big warm spice but a lot of subtle fruit//big structure, power, a good tannin/fruit integration. Long, austere at the moment but should mellow. 17
Quinta do Passadouro 2006 - £14.99 - Ruby//lots of spicy oak, fruit coming though, elegant//big tannins but the fruit is there, although rather occluded at the moment. Very austere finish. Tremendous potential 17.
Quinta do Passadouro Reserva 2005 - £27.69 Ruby//warm 'rubber' - austere, clean//big fruit, extraction, structure. Big tannins but the whole thing is working well. Long. 18
Escada red 2005, DFJ Vinhos - £12.99 - Purple/ruby//another 'rubbery' example, bonfire smoke//lovely clean, fresh fruit, tannins kick in on mid-palate. Still rather austere on length. 17
We tasted them again with lunch, which has restored my faith in the Hotel du Vin - in the past I've never been very impressed with the food, although I can't say that I've been that often. However, this was a sensible and simple meal: chicken-liver and foie-gras parfait with onion marmalade and toasted brioche; roast sirloin of beef on crushed new potatoes with a Douro jus; and a selection of cheeses with celery, biscuits and grapes. Just perfect for matching with the wines. I think the Passadouro Reserva did it for me... But at £27.69.
Then it was off to the Spanish embassy in London to join the diplomatic corps for the celebration of Spain's National Day, which is actually on the 12th, but that was a Sunday. Also known as Hispanic Day and Columbus Day, it commemorates the day in 1492 on which, according to his ship's log, Columbus first set foot in the Americas.
There's a thriving diplomatic circuit in London in which embassies typically invite their colleagues round for suitable celebrations on their various national days, and Spain's is always one of the best, as it's held in the Ambassador's residence, a magnificent town house on the corner of Belgrave Square and Chesham Place. The house was built in 1834 and originally the home of the Chairman of the White Star Line, of Titanic fame. Spain acquired the house in 1928 and did extensive refurbishment, with the result that it was restored to its early-Victorian magnificence. The rooms are opulently furnished, grand in scale with pillared porticoes, fabulous paintings and huge, plump, comfortable sofas. We met the Ambassador, Don Carles Casajauna, and his wife Doña Margarita Massanet, as well as senior Embassy staff, and I was fascinated to see that security was being provided by three officers of the Guardia Civil, in full dress uniform including the traditional black 'tricorn' hat.
As ever, the tapas were splendid and the wines flowed freely: I did some fairly serious damage to the Freixenet vintage over the next hour before having to leave to catch my train. Interestingly, there were people still coming in as I went out: as I said, it's a very popular event, and rather busier than my last visit, which was a private dinner with friends and family to celebrate my winning the Premio Especial Alimentos de España in 2006. Happy days!
posted by John Radford at
13:29
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