I should have planned for Christmas better than I did, having been out of the UK for the four weeks leading up to the last two shopping days, however, a cut price tree was secured on the 23rd and remaining gifts on 24th; the traditional male shopping opportunity. So far, so good.
I knew finding a red variety beginning with Q was going to be impossible (please do let me know if I am wrong. My birthday is in February and I would rather like a copy of Wine Grapes to help with my exploration....), so I had hit on the plan of buying a nice Port to was down the inevitable Stilton and thought it should be easy enough to find one with the word 'Quinta' (Portuguese for 'estate') prominently on the label.
I failed, needing the rest of Christmas Eve to wrap presents, roll chipolatas in bacon, etc, etc, so I resorted to wandering through my cellar to see if I could find anything appropriate. This didn't take long as my cellar consists of a handful of storage boxes in a cupboard found in an area of our house known as the Panama Canal (don't ask).
Earlier in the year we had held an informal party for a number of friends and many had been kind enough to observe the unspoken protocol, originally derived in impoverished youthful years, of bringing a bottle. Being, in the most part, fine, upstanding and church-going members of society, one of them (unidentified) had brought along a bottle that was not opened at the time and has now become:
Wine Q (2013) Quinta do Espirito Santo 2011. It is a Vinho Regional de Lisboa. £7.99 at Laithwaites.
I don't know if the donor selected it on the basis of its qualities as a wine. or on the basis that Espirito Santo means, of course, Holy Spirit. Either way, it works for me.
Made in Portugal from two grapes permitted in the production of Port, Tinto Roriz and Castelao, it is 15% abv without the benefit of fortification. Unlike Port it is dry, inky black in colour and tastes mostly of blackberry and damson fruit, with flavours of coffee and chocolate being suggested in the lengthy finish.
Its tannins are smooth and the concentration of the fruit flavours impressive. It seems like exceptional value, as much of good Portuguese wine can be, and I might even pay for my own next time.
Should you be interested, the reason that this high alcohol red wine from Portugal is not 'Port' is because it has been fermented 'to dry', which means that all the sugar contained in the grape must (juice) has been converted to alcohol. With Port, fermentation is artificially stopped before this happens by adding distilled grape spirit to the vats of fermenting must.
This has two effects. Firstly, the resulting wine remains sweet as there is a higher sugar content and, secondly, the wine has its alcoholic content boosted even further than would have been achieved by a complete fermentation, usually up to 20% abv.
This practice of fortification was started by the British to enable Port Wines to reach England in a palatable and stable state as the transportation of the base wines had been a problem previously. The style became popular and we now live to enjoy the benefits of both Port and now wines such as this week's choice.
I knew finding a red variety beginning with Q was going to be impossible (please do let me know if I am wrong. My birthday is in February and I would rather like a copy of Wine Grapes to help with my exploration....), so I had hit on the plan of buying a nice Port to was down the inevitable Stilton and thought it should be easy enough to find one with the word 'Quinta' (Portuguese for 'estate') prominently on the label.
I failed, needing the rest of Christmas Eve to wrap presents, roll chipolatas in bacon, etc, etc, so I resorted to wandering through my cellar to see if I could find anything appropriate. This didn't take long as my cellar consists of a handful of storage boxes in a cupboard found in an area of our house known as the Panama Canal (don't ask).
Earlier in the year we had held an informal party for a number of friends and many had been kind enough to observe the unspoken protocol, originally derived in impoverished youthful years, of bringing a bottle. Being, in the most part, fine, upstanding and church-going members of society, one of them (unidentified) had brought along a bottle that was not opened at the time and has now become:
Wine Q (2013) Quinta do Espirito Santo 2011. It is a Vinho Regional de Lisboa. £7.99 at Laithwaites.I don't know if the donor selected it on the basis of its qualities as a wine. or on the basis that Espirito Santo means, of course, Holy Spirit. Either way, it works for me.
Made in Portugal from two grapes permitted in the production of Port, Tinto Roriz and Castelao, it is 15% abv without the benefit of fortification. Unlike Port it is dry, inky black in colour and tastes mostly of blackberry and damson fruit, with flavours of coffee and chocolate being suggested in the lengthy finish.
Its tannins are smooth and the concentration of the fruit flavours impressive. It seems like exceptional value, as much of good Portuguese wine can be, and I might even pay for my own next time.
Should you be interested, the reason that this high alcohol red wine from Portugal is not 'Port' is because it has been fermented 'to dry', which means that all the sugar contained in the grape must (juice) has been converted to alcohol. With Port, fermentation is artificially stopped before this happens by adding distilled grape spirit to the vats of fermenting must.
This has two effects. Firstly, the resulting wine remains sweet as there is a higher sugar content and, secondly, the wine has its alcoholic content boosted even further than would have been achieved by a complete fermentation, usually up to 20% abv.
This practice of fortification was started by the British to enable Port Wines to reach England in a palatable and stable state as the transportation of the base wines had been a problem previously. The style became popular and we now live to enjoy the benefits of both Port and now wines such as this week's choice.
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