Wine a Day

Back to something red this week! I have not been drinking too much red wine with the warm weather, but it is hard to stay away from it. Someone commented on one of my posts that “life is too short to drink white wine”. Well I am not sure about that, but life is too short to be without red wine for very long!

The main reason behind not drinking red wine is not because I couldn’t have a glass or two with a bit of heat. It has more to do with taste buds not being in the mood for heavier food, which I tend to enjoy a glass or two of red wine with. As this is all about the experience of enjoying wine, there is no point in forcing anything because it will lessen the experience. Last week though, the weather cooled enough for something a bit meatier. I also had my eye on a wine I had wanted to try for a while.

So this week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the 2005 Esporão Trincadiera. The Esporão winery is a great place to visit. The impressive tower rising out of the vines is always a nice sight to see no matter how many times you have visited. We visit this winery on our trips out to the Alentejo and it is always leaves an impression. They also have archeological sites within the property, with finds dating back to pre-Roman times. They also support local artists. The labels on their Reserva and Private Collection wines are designed by artists from Portugal.

Back to the wine… Usually, as with many of Portugal’s native grapes and wine making traditions, Tricadeira is blended with other grapes for the end product. At Esporão for example, they use it in their Resverva wine, along with Aragonês , Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet. In combination with these grapes the end product is balance and it is always a lot of fun getting your nose and mouth around where the different grapes are adding to the wine. On its own though, Trincadeira make a wine with a deep color, with plum, spice and some vanilla aromas. With all that going on it gives you a bit of a fright about how big it will be. At 14.5% alcohol it has a fair punch to it. On tasting it however, it is a less scary with some berry flavor as well as the plum and some spice to it and some good dryness to finish.

This wine goes well with red meat, or duck with a heavy sauce. The roundness of the flavors come alive with food, making it even more enjoyable with the particular fruit and spice it has. It may be a new grape to many people, but I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think. It’s different to many of the French grape varieties that seem to dominate the shelves outside of Southern Europe, so if you come across this with, give it a try and see what you think!