WTN: Quinta do Feital 2002 "Dorado" Alvarinho

[Robin Garr]

<table><tr><td></td></tr></table>Quinta do Feital 2002 "Dorado" Moncão Vinho Verde Alvarinho ($22.99)

A modern, upscale take on Portuguese Vinho Verde made by a Spanish producer who crossed the river from Rias Baixas in Galicia to make wine on both sides of the Spanish-Portuguese border, it's Vinho Verde in the new style, hearty and full-bodied, aged on its yeast sediment (lees) to add richness and complexity of flavor. It shows a clear straw color with a golden hue. Peaches and minty fresh herbal scents come together in a complex, appealing aroma. Mouth-filling and full, ripe flavors follow the nose, with good acidic structure and a whiff of spice. Very fine wine, although it's a far cry from the standard light and frothy Vinho Verde. U.S. importer: Vieux Vins Inc., Vineburg, Calif.; The Rare Wine Co. (March 24, 2006)

FOOD MATCH: Portuguese or Spanish, Alvarinho or Albariño, either way these aromatic whites are made for seafood and fish. This wine's body and structure brought it up to a more robust fish dinner, fresh cod cut in bite-size chunks, quickly sauteed in a skillet of home fries and onions scented with homeopathic dashes of cumin and Asian "five spice."

VALUE: The $20-plus price almost gave me a nosebleed, but the wine is persuasive: This is no mere shellfish quaffer.

WHEN TO DRINK: The conventional wisdom on Vinho Verde is that it should be drunk up so young that it's hardly worth exporting. This robust and full-bodied style, however, might justify an experiment in cellaring simply to see what happens. You won't go wrong, though, by buying and drinking it young.

WEB LINK:
This English-language importer fact sheet offers good background on Quinta do Feital, along with a downloadable Adobe PDF tech sheet.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Look up prices and locate sources for Quinta do Feital Alvarinho on Wine-Searcher.com.

Alv/barino rocks! But what was the abv of this one? I think they are rather more versatile food wines than you let on. The grape (when under 12,5% abv) is one of my favourites with spicy foods. And I'm also not convinced it needs drinking young. It seems to age very fast in the first 2-4 years of its life but after that slowly. A friend of mine "forgot" some 1995 Galician Albariños and we drunk them last year at age 10. We had some 2002s alongside them and the 95s weren't much more developed. They just don't gain much nuance after 2 years, but they do seem to last.

Otto

[Robin Garr]

Alv/barino rocks! But what was the abv of this one?

Otto, in fact it was a rational 12.5%, although of course in the US that could mean anywhere from 11 to 14. It didn't give the impression of the palate of an excessively alcoholic wine, though. The full body and that leesy character were offbeat for Vinho Verdeo, although not really for Alb/varinho.

I have a bottle of this wine hangin' out on my rack. I can't wait to drink it. Feital also makea an Alvarinho/Trajadura blend for about half the price that I really enjoy as well.


-Bill

[Robin Garr]

I have a bottle of this wine hangin' out on my rack. I can't wait to drink it. Feital also makea an Alvarinho/Trajadura blend for about half the price that I really enjoy as well.

Bill, I'll look forward to your tasting report and palate calibration! I wasn't optimistic, frankly - on my last night in my recent trip to Portugal, Joana and Miguel and I had dinner at a seafood place on the Lisbon waterfront, and Miguel proudly ordered the most expensive Alvarinho on the list (about 35 Euros). It reeked of oak and was a horrible example of Parkerismo, and I feared this one might be something similar. But noooo ... it was just fine.