Berco Do Infante Reserva Estremadura 2009

I Really Need to Learn More About Portuguese Wines. This One is Fabulous..

A friend poured this wine for me last night, at a meeting we were having to plan a wine tasting fundraiser for a group I support called Anatta World Health and Education.

I was hesitant to open it because knowing their taste I thought it would be an expensive bottle. I never open expensive bottles during the week. I tasted it and still thought it was an expensive bottle. I was in for a big surprise when I learned the price today.

I don't know much about Portuguese wines but was convinced that this was a good one.

It is a blend of Castelao and Aragonez grapes, both indigenous to the Estremadura region of western Portugal from a vineyard Quinta do Gradil.  It pours with a dark glistening purple color. It has rich but delicate flavors of plum, black cherry, prune and some light coffee, smoke and pleasant spice. With that is very nice minerality, acidity and fine tannins.

I thought this was a $30 bottle. Turns out I was very wrong.

My friend, Gabriella, at CataVino have done a very nice article on the extraordinary vineyard that produces this wine. Bodega Quinta do Gradil

CataVino is "This is an indispensable tool for those who want to follow, in English, what really goes on in the world of Spanish and Portuguese wines – lively, informative and, most important, first-hand, on-the-scene knowledge!"

And the price you ask.  Not the $30 I guessed, but around $8.

Another beautiful thing was that there were no after affects that some times come with inexpensive wine which it turns out this one is.

Now to find some more.

Vineyard

Comments

[Justin - Wine Clube Guide]

Yes, yes, yes! I too am learning more about Portuguese wines and I will be on the lookout for this particular bottle. I'm always excited to learn about a new region or country, and I'm hopeful that in the coming year or two Portugal will take off as Spain has done in the past decade. I have been reading some really interesting stuff about Portuguese wine makers working to distinguish their table wines and shake off the Portugal-for-Port marketing thing. I have been tasting some really excellent Douros lately, and I'm eager to try this from the Lisbon region. Thanks for an excellent post!