Recently I placed an order with the Wine Society for ten bottles of wine, all from Portugal. These are to be used in the coming week for an evening with friends at a north London branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A). I had selected three white wines, one rose, five reds and a very sweet fortified wine. The prices ranged from £5.95 to £40. The delivery was as scheduled, but there had been an error in the packing. Instead of the £40 red I had been sent a second bottle of:
To the absolute credit of the Wine Society when I called to let them know of the error they immediately agreed to send the missing red and told me to keep the spare rose. When they then discovered the missing wine was out of stock, they replaced it with a wine priced at £46 without asking for further payment. If you like wine and are not a member of the Wine Society you may be missing out.
As this is Week S (2021) and the spare wine comes from the Peninsula de Setubal it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I have been planning to select a Soave, but that can wait a year or two.
There are two sub-regions to Setubal, itself a coastal region South of Lisbon, one of which is also called Setubal and is closer to the coast and more to the South and West. This is mostly known for the sweet fortified wines such as the one included in my selection. Those are made from Muscat of Alexandria and are usually very sweet indeed. The other sub-region is Palmela, more Northerly and to the East. Here a local Portuguese variety, Castelao, is required to be used although, as with this wine, other varieties are permitted.
Here we have a blend with one international variety, Syrah, making up 40% of the blend and the required Castelao contributing 30%. The remaining 30% is from the powerful red grape, Touriga Nacional, renowned for its role in the wine for which the country is best known: Port.
The makers recommend the wine to accompany fish and salads. We drank most of it with a chicken casserole, mashed potato, carrots and Romanesco, The One's favourite vegetable. The last glass was drunk by my daughter to accompany a bath taken to celebrate my grandson falling asleep without too much persuasion.
It seemed to fit both uses acceptably well. It is a young, fruity wine in a strawberry and raspberry sort of way and has, as do many roses (especially at this price point) a noticeable sweetness that is not overpowering. According to the technical data available from the producer, it has only 4.5 g/l of residual sugar, and that is usually an indication of a quite dry wine. Perhaps its the fruit. It is quite enjoyable and a long way from the pink drink I commented on three weeks ago.
November is probably not the best time of year for a wine of this style and a warm summer evening would most likely make it more appealing. Having said that for just under £1 a glass (at standard measures) it is a lot cheaper than a pint in a pub garden.
Buy again? Unsure. If I find the need for this style of wine then it would be a good candidate. Otherwise I would probably pick something from Provence and expect to pay double. Incidentally, Setubal is pronounced something like 'Shtoobel'.
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