Some thoughts on the Portugal Wine Festival.

Held last Saturday afternoon at DeVines downtown Edmonton. 8 pourers, 60 wines, good crowd with proceeds going to the local womens shelter org.
Prices generally ran from $15 up to $30 but there were some high-end Colheitas, 10-yr Tawnys and so on.

I had to restrain from sampling too many wines as I was entertaining some friends at the rodeo and needed to be in good shape for the evening action!

The Whites.

The `07/`08? Crasto was the top white for me (as I expected). The CARM Vinhas Velhas was a close second. I was not too keen on some of the low-end Vinho Verdes served and the Morgadio da Torre Alvarinho was not up to usual standard. The Porto Douro Branco was tasted by Anastasia who found it "to be a tad sweet". As usual I loved the Arinto from Prova Regia.
There was probably another 10 whites that I passed on.

The Reds.

So many to taste here but no big high-enders offered. The `06 Prazo de Roriz which is mentioned on this forum sometimes was quite tight still, I have 2 in the cellar. Food might have helped here. The Flor de Crasto at $15 is a real bargain and usually flies off the shelves at the store. Juicy, some tannin, fresh..a nice Portugal introduction I always say.
The Quinta do Infantado Douro was a very big wine but way too "international" for me. A Vidigal Syrah ($20) was very popular and "had good structure". Remember that milk-shake Dao I posted on last month? Yikes.
The Luis Pato reds were all good across the board but prices are up there eh.

Ports.

Plenty to choose from, many 10/20 year old Tawnys. I was quite blown away with the 1985 and 1965 Messias Colheitas. The Taylors Tawnys offered all good, did not get to taste the Portal 10 yr Tawny. Also passed on the Offley 10/20 Tawny.

*** sorry that the link to wines offered does not work! I tried.

I never had the privilege of drinking a Crasto white, but I have had a number of Douro whites over the years, and several on my recent visit to Portugal. In general, I'm more taken with the more serious Vinho Verdes (not just the Alvarinho ones either) or the whites from Beiras (Dao and Bairrada) than those from the Douro. In Lisbon I recently had a glass of Niepoort Redoma Branco and my reaction was "if I want a California Chardonnay I would have ordered one". Oddly enough, two of the most enjoyable white Douros I had on my trip were amongst the cheapest: the regular branco from Porca de Murca and a Douro Alvarinho (!) from the same producer: both delightfully refreshing, oak free and bright. The reds are available here and are great QPR, but I'm not sure I've seen the whites in the US.

The CARM wines are nice and aren't outrageously priced either; they make a great olive oil, too. Luis Pato makes some inexpensive wines but I haven't been taken with those - the expensive ones seem to be more impressive. Nice espumantes, though. If you are looking for good Bairrada wines you should seek out Quinta das Bageiras - great stuff across the lineup. Their red espumante made from Baga (with a good long tirage, at least a couple years) is just the thing to have with a roast suckling pig.

Thanks for all this imput Joe. Nice to see someone reply to my post!
I am certainly taken by sparkling Baga, Luis P has a nice one here.

Bob,

Was it $15-30 to taste each wine?

No Tom, $15 per head and taste as many as you like!! There were some good pours too.