WINE WEDNESDAY - Montaria Reserva 2016

Yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo.  The wine blog is back!  Today is a momentous day obviously because I decided to finally resurrect the wine blog from it's long slumber.  This past year or so has been tough to find time to hang out with family and friends let alone keep up with a blog.  BUT hopefully that has officially changed.

I have a short and sweet (actually somewhat dry and tannic) installment for you today.

Winery:      Montaria
Grapes:    Reserva - Syrah 40%, Trincadeira 40%, Aragonez 20%
Region:     (Alentejo and Lisboa I think)
Country:    Portugal
Vintage:     2016
Price:         $12-$16
Aging:        ???

BACKGROUND

Yooooooo.  Portuguese wines can be a confusing topic.  Some trends explained:

You are not likely to find reds that are from a single grape in my experience.  Almost ALL common Portuguese wine found for sale in America will say "Red Wine" or "Vihno Tinto" on the bottle.

Sounds to me like they're just trying to hide the fact that their grapes suck.

This DOES NOT mean they are trying to be vague because of inferiority, in fact it shows that the wine-making from these regions is very matured.  Almost all of the very best (red) wines are blends unless there are some random rules associated with making wine in a particular region.  Still, I have no idea why they do it for sure...it is possible that the grapes are terrible on their own.

Also, Portuguese wines tend to be made with grapes that aren't really grown elsewhere.  I think they take it a step further than their Iberian cousins (Spain).  For instance, Touriga Nacional is basically only found in Porto.

Yoooo Porto! Is that where Port wine comes from?

You got it! Fun fact: it isn't true Port unless it says "Porto", otherwise it could be "Port Style" from anywhere.

It seems as if there's 100 of these random grapes they use in Portugal as I find a new name on the back label of just about every Portuguese wine I try.  In fact I had never heard of Trincadeira and Aragonez before today.

Syrah - We know this guy

Trincadeira

Aragonez - I wonder if this originates from Aragon (northeastern Spain)

The general outlay of wine-growing Portugal imo is:

Porto/Duoro - This port city is where port wine started although the grapes are mainly grown inland in the Duoro region where tons of good wine comes from.

Minho - Vinho Verde, the distinct, refreshing, greenish-colored wine is found here among other light, tasty (and affordable) options.  Ideal drink-on-a-hot-day wines come from here.

Duly noted.

Beira and Lisboa - I have seen wines from these regions before whilst perusing at wine outlets.

Wine Regions - Portugal

Today's wine hails from Lisboa and Alentejo as far as I can tell from research (I presume the wine-maker buys fruit from all over the south-central regions).  I am told these regions are generally very hot and dry with some variation; meaning that the majority of wine coming out of here is red. Areas with good sea breeze and inland mountains are my guess as to where the limited white grapes grow.

Alentejo

Last topic to cover is the term Reserva.  This obviously translates to Reserve, meaning the better portion of the fruit from harvest was used to make this batch.  It also generally translates to a ~$3 uptick from the bulk vintage for lowish price-range wines.

I think I'll save the money I don't think I would taste the difference.

I don't blame you, however seeing "Reserve" at a dinner party does impress the crowd even if it really isn't that good.

OKOK

SNOBBY REVIEW

Sniff - I always tend to sniff the bottom of the cork when opening a bottle (a habit of proper restaurant protocol)...it is particularly nice with this wine - very evident that this will be pretty fruity.  (I'm a bit out of critical practice but...) has a bite to the whiff from the glass with a lot of fruit (sort of in the darker berry range but there's kinda this cranberry thing also).

Taste - Softer/thinner than I was expecting.  I actually really enjoy these types of reds for the mouthfeel: the soft tannins that don't bite you (more expressed with vanilla or cream flavors rather that the harsher wood/spices types of tannic flavor).  Swishing in the mouth doesn't dry you out too much.  However there is not a ton of fruit on the initial flavor profile...it comes in later.  Jam style flavors - a lighter fruit like strawberry or cranberry but given some more power by keeping some sweetness from the grapes. 

Food - Did not try with food but I am convinced this wine will open up considerably with the correct pairing.  It has a noticeable amount of acidity that I think can make up for it's lack of alcoholic punch and robustness to cut through a fatty dish.

Overall I'd call it a little overpriced unless this somehow goes amazing with some type of food.  The mouthfeel suits me very well but I know that I tend to have different preferences with reds than most.

Rating: 6.7 / 10
Value: $$ / 5

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