Altitude 430

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 One of the main goals of going through a formal wine education is to learn the typical style of a certain region and why certain grapes are the most adequate to reflect a certain terroir. 

That being the Dao region in Portugal is often presented as Burgundy, Alentejo as California or the Douro as being the portuguese Bordeaux. In the latest also Rioja is presented as an alternative to Bordeaux.

Being so, when buying a bottle from a given region you may be almost sure that you are getting a pre established kind of wine that you can correlate with former experiences you had.

But climate change, new drinking tendencies and new approaches to wine making, among others, have been revealing new and fascinating wines that show a new facet that still translate the specificities of the terroir.

 This was exactly what happened with this Altitude 430.

Produced by one of the most iconic Douro houses, this Altitude is a cuvée dominated by a pretty unknown grape named Tinta Francisca along with 30% Touriga Nacional. To be frank, I have never tasted Tinta Francisca in such a higher percentage, only knowing the name from some field blends or Ports. 


As you can imagine I was absolutely thrilled to try this wine.

At first it shows itself pretty light in colour making me remind me of Pinot Noir. In the nose, you have some Mediterranean herbs along with some light smoked notes which coat the primary flavours of cherries.

In the mouth I directly realized that I may have drunk it too warm as I felt that a bit colder would enhance the full potential of this wine. As it often happens to most of us, we do tend to drink wines a bit warmer than they should be. 

After cooling it down a bit, I have almost gotten a new wine in the palate: vibrant, fresh, elegant, a real alternative to some over priced Pinots. 

This is a wine that presents great complexity and that can accompany matured cheeses as well as smoked charcuterie. Even though it did not happen with me as I was trying it, but I can also imagine it pairing some game dishes due to its smokiness and complexity.

Definitively a wine to go back to now that Spring threatens to show its splendour in Hamburg. 

If this is a typical Douro wine? 

On the one hand I would say no when you think of massive full-bodied wines, but on the other hand, yes as you feel the shale soils and a new approach that several winemakers in the region have been trying to introduce in order to renew the shape of of the most iconic Portuguese wine regions.

16/20
Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Grapes: Tinta Francisca; Touriga Nacional
Winemaker: n/a
12,5%
Link: https://www.quintadocrasto.wine/produtos/crasto-altitude-430/ 

 


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