Wine Fictions

 As I have been coming across more and more sorts of wines I have been feeling a tendency to look for more exquisite and exclusive things which can grant you a more unique experience.  I have to confess that I am the sort of person who easily feels seduced whenever a good or interesting story is told and this particular project has enough history to get me seduced from the very first moment. Coming from one of the smallest protected denominations in Portugal, the Carcavelos´ wines have been an international reference for quite some centuries now making themselves present in the market of fortified wines mainly dominated by Port and Madeira wines. With a strong historical connection to the emblematic Portuguese minister Marques de Pombal who became famous for his reconstruction of Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755, this fortified wine has known a new life recently, being integrated in a project of the Municipality of Oeiras in order to grant it some support and more visibilit...

Living in Germany has opened my senses to completely different kinds of grapes that you hardly find anywhere else and which can express in a rather unique way singular terroirs which can go further than the consecrated Mosel or Rheinessen. In the case of this Kloster Pforta I was taken to the very heart of Saale-Unstrut in the Eastern part of Germany and home to some of the best wines that are produced in the country.  I have to confess that one of the grapes that has awaken my interest from the beginning due to its name was Bacchus. As I moved to Germany I was positively surprised by it as it often reveals strong tropical fruits notes reminding me of some sort of stronger Alvarinho without so much minerality. And that's exactly what happened with this wine: in the mouth we are offered some marvellously round passion fruit with pineapple along with some sweet apricots transforming it into a wine that arises our curiosity on how such a complexity of tastes can develop into an harmo...

 As I have finished my degree my first job has sent me to Tenerife where I had the privileged opportunity to locally know the wines that were being produced in the island.  For most people unknown, Tenerife is producing quite some interesting wines reflecting its unique and specific terroir. It is so unique that the grapes used in this wine are almost exclusively "Canarian" and rather hard to find in main land Spain or anywhere else in the world. The Orotava Valley, where this El Lance comes from, is home to one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen and while trying this wine I was invaded by numerous memories which made every single drop of it a unique experience of revisiting past memories. This and the fascinating deepness and freshness that I was confronted when I have finally tasted it. Its deep red colour first seemed to me as promising some more complexity but the fresh minerality of the volcanic soil was dominant from the first sip and has developed amazingly ...

Let me go straight to the subject: this is an absolutely amazing wine and probably one of the best ones I have come across in these last times. Dense but at the same time silky delicate and intense without losing its freshness it is a fascinating wine from the first to the last drop, reflecting a very particular terroir at the foothills of the Sao Mamede mountain giving it a completely different structure than the one you often find in other Alentejo wines.        While drinking it I had a light feeling of drinking something dark and profound as if it was blood. This was probably due to its intense minerality allied with seducing notes of black pepper, but I am finding words not good enough to describe the whole complexity of the experience I had.   Being so, I can only recommend each of the readers of these words to try it! Over and over. With it I would recommend the irreverent and hilarious poetry of Shel Silverstein which keeps on renewing my love for i...