Trifásico 2023

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This time, I would like to share a wine that it was lively recommended to me at Arinto e Touriga in Santarém and that has the particularity of having let me come across a grape that it was for me pretty unknown, only have heard it as playing side role in Port wine cuvées and under the name of Marufo. 

Even though it is in a cuvée it only made it more interesting to see how three different grapes play its role in building a singular wine. 

In fact, it is not as simple as that: Mourisco has been fermented first, and on top of the fermented grapes, the Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca came later to do their fermentation, making a general second fermentation of the wine. It later matures for ten months in barriques. 

In this case, it is also to see the work and very personal note of the winemaker.  

And the final result is absolutely fascinating!

Unlike traditional Douro wines where the stylistic tends to resemble the one in Bordeaux, this Trifasico is really fresh, with lively red fruits and a really prolongued finish. It is somehow one of this wines that makes you thirsty for more. 

The reflection of a terroir is here present through the traditional mediterranean herbs that you often find in the wines from the region. 

Even though the bottle's design does match my taste and António Braga one of the winemakers whose work I wanted to come across , I am not sure whether I would have bought it. With limited space in my bag when I last was in Portugal, I tended to another wine, but Renata's insistence has helped making my mind and I am really happy that she has done it. 

If a good recommendation can be tremendously valuable and make the difference at the time of choosing where to buy your wines, I have just gone through the experience of having a customer telling me that I was right when I have adviced him not to buy a certain wine as it did not match his drinking profile. He has ignored it, bought the bottle and drunk it and said that next time he would trust me.  As Germans would say "Trust is good but control (in the sense of self-assessment) is better". 

 

17,5/20
Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Grapes: Mourisco Roxo, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca
13%
Winemaker: António Braga

Website: https://antoniobragawines.pt/

 

Location: Hamburg, Germany

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