Friday, October 21, 2011

ESPORAO

ESPORAO

I recently had the pleasure of attending a wine dinner at Philippe Restaurant that featured the wines of Esporao and Quinta dos Murcas.

For starters, virtually all of the wines were outstanding values, and were paired up impeccably with the fantastic food. Winemaker David Baverstock was there to lead us through the wines being tasted, walk us through a power point presentation, and to answer questions.

The entire event was well executed, and quite memorable. (Especially the Tuna lasagna!)

As I said, the food was fantastic, and the wines showed beautifully.



Here’s what I thought about the wines…

2010 Alentejo Verdelho (SRP $13)– Mellow and fleshy with peach and stone fruits on the palate. The texture seemed to be a combination of lees stirring a malo-lactic fermentation. (Confirmed by D.B.)

2009 Esporao Reserva White (SRP $20)– Frog label – Balanced, a lovely, dry white wine.

2008 Esporao Reserva Red (SRP $25)– Salamander label – A little rough, but full bodied. Nice

2009 Private Selection White ($25) – Snake Label – Mostly Semillon, but I thought it was a white Rhone variety. Fat, mellow and spicy with hints of fig. The most impressive wine of the night for me!

2007 Private Selection Red ($60) – Bull label – Rough, but spicy with a good mid-palate. Needs decanting!

2009 Quinta Dos Murcas Assobio ($13) – Tight, velvety, layered and classy. A great red wine for the price!

2008 Quinto Dos Murcas Reserve ($40) – Juicy and Cab-like, with deep berry flavors, spices and a velvety texture. Very cool!

Quinto Dos Murcas 10 year Tawny port ($30) – Juicy, spicy, dates, black pepper, MMM!.

Again, the only wine that wasn’t a “value” was the Esporao Private Selection red. All of the others were well worth the money, and some were even worth twice the price.

I highly recommend that you get out and try this stuff. You’ll be glad you did.

And as a reminder, I can usually get you pricing for notably less than SRP!

Cheers,

Chuck