WTN: Castelão

DFJ Vinhos Fonte do Beco 2007 - Vinho Regional Terras do Sado; 12,5% abv; 100% Castelão; 8,90€
I have fond memories of José Maria da Fonseca's Periquita which is also from the same region and is perhaps the most famous table wine from Setúbal - so famous that the wine's name (Periquita) is now a synonym for the grape Castelão! Periquita however hasn't been available here for some years. But as I wanted a fix of that delightful, cheap, berried and rustic red, I decided to open another cheap VR Terras do Sado Castellão, Fonte do Beco.

My first impression is that it is a more "international", slightly oaky, less rustic example of the same base-material as the Periquita of my memories. But with air, the toffee aromas of the oak pretty much disappear and the slightly rustic loveliness I remember appears. It smells of raspberries and earth. Medium bodied with lively acidity and a fair bit of refreshing tannins that provide some lovely astringency to the sweet fruit, but still it seems a bit more polished and a bit less rustic than my mnemonic. Still, I got my fix. Fun little wine.

My understanding is that the grape was called Periquita before the wine, and the wine was named after the grape. The first Periquitas I tried in the early 90s were quite nice, but either I evolved or they deteriorated, because the few I've tasted in the last few years were totally bland and massified.

Winemakers in Bairrada and Dão told me in January that practically all Alentejo, Sado and Douro wines are acidified, so this one may have been too. But if you enjoyed it, perhaps it wasn't, or doesn't matter.

My understanding is that the grape was called Periquita before the wine, and the wine was named after the grape. [...]Winemakers in Bairrada and Dão told me in January that practically all Alentejo, Sado and Douro wines are acidified, so this one may have been too. But if you enjoyed it, perhaps it wasn't, or doesn't matter.

I managed to unearth my copy of Mayson, and it appears we are both a little bit wrong: "But Castelão Francês is probably best known by its nickname "Periquita" or "small parrot". This originates from a small vineyard planted with cuttings of CF by a certain José Maria da Fonseca in the middle of the last century. The site on the north facing slopes of the Arrábida hills was called Cova de Periquita and, because of the success of the wine produced there, the name Periquita (sometimes Piriquito/a) stuck." He goes on to call the grape "firm and raspberryish when young", and I also remember a representative from JM Fonseca in a tasting here saying that the grape is naturally high in acid but a bit on the low side for tannins. If this is the case, I wonder why acidification is the norm? Especially because the acid levels in this wine were of such levels that I like them (i.e. unpopularly high). But whether added or not, it seems completely in place unlike with the Leyda Pinot I tried (and failed) to drink.

Thanks for the research, very interesting. I think the basis for the generalization was that these climates are much hotter than the more sheltered Bairrada and Dão, but if the grape is naturally high in acid and you didn't sense the apartness, then it's probably an exception.