Portugal has a curious history in the U.S.. In the early 70’s, Portuguese roses were all the rage. There have been brief periods where certain labels achieved a finite standing in the marketplace, but the category for whatever reason hasn’t really kept any kind of momentum. Often tasty and well-priced, if at times rough and tumble, we rarely (never?) have anyone come in and ask where our Portuguese wine section is. Sure we have done things extensive things with dry Duoro reds and have a fairly consistent audiences for good vinho verdes. But typically, like we said, the category only gets occasional attention.
As in all of the significant wine growing areas in Europe, however, fresh ideas are emerging that may give Portuguese wines an identity in the broader market. Mateus Nicolau de Almeida might be the one to light the torch for the category. First of all, they go out of their way to be authentic, emph.asizing indigenous varietals grown organically (certified) in specific subregions. The intent is to create wines that reflect the character of their specific subregions. To make a generalization, they all have in common a great purity of fruit, little in the way of the hand of the ‘winemaker’ to distract from the expression of the fruit, and a common denominator of a bright, fruit-driven, juicy demeanor and drinkability.
Mateus and wife Teresa come from technical backgrounds but have dove into country life with a passion. They raise their own crops and livestock, make full-flavored vinegars in one shed on the property, make olive oil and gin-like distillates. They also speak four languages. Their stated concept for their wines is that they want them to express the unique characteristics of the area from which they are sourced “even if your are drinking them on Venice Beach.”
Mateus’ father and grandfather were winemaking legends in their own right and they are connected by blood to the family that own Porto house Ramos Pinto. Clearly, the wine life was a calling and he was ambitious in learning the arts from experience in several wine producing regions and, more specifically at places like Domaine Trevallon in the south of France and Josmeyer in Alsace. Mateus met Teresa, whose father had worked at La Rioja Alta, at Chateau Cantenac Brown. This project is Duoro-specific, highlighting sub-regions within the appellation.
They chose to call the wines MNA (for Mateus Nicolau de Almeida) Trans-Duoro-Express Baixo Corgo Tinto 2021 and MNA Trans-Duoro-Express Duoro Superior 2021, put them in distinctive bottles that would be more associated with Alsace or Germany, with a very official looking seal/stamp over the cork and a fish on the label. All the wines are made the same way, destemmed, fermented and held in 4000L concrete vats for eight months with low sulphite levels. While the climate of the three subzones (we bought two of the three) is distinctly different, the soils share a commonality of shist bedrock with varying degrees of clay and sand in the loam topsoils.
The grapes are primarily from estate and rented vineyards with a small portion purchased. The main grape varieties are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesca, Tinta Barroca, and Tinto Roriz, though many of the vineyards will contain a number of other varietals mixed into the field blend. There are typically ten different varietals in the blend.
The MNA Trans-Duoro-Express Baixo Corgo Tinto 2021 is from the coolest, furthest west of the three subzones. What the winery does is take the best aspect of Portuguese reds, a juicy, expressive, but light on its feet, and elevate the experience with clean winemaking and purity of fruit. The terroir shines through. The Baixo is a crisper red with an inviting nose of mulberry and red currant and a tonic like minerality. The red fruit profile comes through on the palate with fleck of the aforementioned minerality and spice notes kicking in on the finish. Medium weight and imminently quaffable, it can play casual but has the nuance reward more focused contemplation. The alcohol is a modest 12%. Only 7000 bottles produced.
The MNA Trans-Duoro-Express Duoro Superior 2021 comes from the furthest east of the subzones abutting Spain. The difference in rainfall alone is significant, with the Douro Superior getting less than one-third of the rain of Baixo. It’s a little warmer here and this one comes across a little bit weightier and more open-knit, with the fruit component a bit darker and more fleshy than the Baixo and the mineral component a bit more ‘scorched earth’ than rock. It has that same bright, quaffable demeanor that is the style of the house, and the same modest alcohols (12%).
These are kind of ‘party reds’, fresh, fruit driven, vibrant and easy to drink. They can play solo but have the versatility to play with a wide range of dishes from poultry to fish to finger foods, but with enough backbone to stand up to grilled meats, a classic plate of cured meats or linguisa. You can throw a little chill on them when the weather gets a little warmer. Like we said, this takes that juicy demeanor that we associate with Portuguese reds and elevates the experience through cleaner, more precise and terroir focused winemaking. They didn’t reinvent the wheel, they just a great job of taking the definitive Portugal ‘style’ to a higher level by “being what they are…better.”
