Snoozing to success

Every year the wine quiz on these pages asks a tricky question about Portuguese grape varieties. There are so many of them and most have difficult names such as Rabigato, Encruzado, Periquita and Trincadeira.

There is even a grape variety which manages a sex change as it moves from one region to another. The fairly masculine-sounding Fernão Pires is widely grown in the south of Portugal, but in Bairrada it becomes a girl and prefers to be known as Maria Gomes.

When the rest of the wine world was busy pulling out its local grapes and replanting with Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Portugal decided to take a siesta and woke up a few decades later to find that it had one of the best collections of indigenous grapes in the world.

The great thing about Portugal and its winemakers is that, having realised that they are now making wines with unique flavours and styles, they have improved their methods and technology so now Portugal is the place to go for well-made, distinctive, complex wines with flavours that you won’t have tasted before.

At this time of year, Vinho Verde comes into its own since its crisp, lemony aromatic flavours with just a prickle of fizz are the perfect way to cool down on a hot day. Made in the north of Portugal, the version that we are familiar with is white, although it does come as a red too which is an acquired taste and best left until you are eating grilled sardines in Portuguese sunshine.

Vinho Verde (pronounce it vaird, not verdy) in the UK universally means a white wine made from the Alvarinho, Loureiro, Arinto and Trajadura grapes, sometimes as individual varieties, but often as a blend, each grape providing a touch more aroma, acidity and minerality to support the mix. These are the varieties that used to be allowed to grow up trees or high trellises, which meant that the harvest had to be done with the help of ladders, but no more. Vinho Verde has come down from the trees and now grows its vines in rows just like everyone else, and the result is riper, softer flavoured grapes.

Majestic has one of the best Vinho Verdes I have tasted recently. Quinta de Azevedo 2010 has crisp, lemony fruit backed by enough texture and body to cope with a well-dressed salad, with olives and anchovies. Currently priced at £6.99 it comes down to £5.99 on multibuy. Over at The Halifax Wine Company (01422 256333, www.halifaxwinecompany.com) where their fabulous range has won the trophy for the best Portuguese wine range in the country, they have the classic Quinta da Aveleda 2009 (£7.95) which shows crunchy, ripe apple fruit backed by citrus zestiness.

Further south in the dry, undulating landscape of the Alentejo is Esporão, a winery which was built from the ground up with quality in mind. Australian winemaker David Baverstock has been in charge from the start and he has steered the range through its bright New World fruit phase to the point now where there is a definite step up in quality, harmony and complexity.

I particularly like the Duas Castas white 2010 (£9.95 Halifax) which is a lively blend of Verdelho and Viosinho with ripe melon, orange and tangerine notes and is perfect chilled with herb-spiked roasted fish. The red Quatro Castas 2008 is a blend of four varieties, Alicante Bouschet, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Alfrocheiro and it has ripe blackberry fruit, with supple tannins and a rich, mouthfilling harmony of fruit, oak and power. At £12.50 (Halifax) this gives great flavour for money.

Field and Fawcett in York (01904 489073) also has a good range from Esporão including the deep-flavoured, sweet-fruited Esporão Reserve 2007 (£14.95) which has been aged in American oak, adding a light spicy touch to the finish. While you are at Field and Fawcett you should pick up a bottle of Howard’s Folly 2007 (£10.95) for its dense, ripe, forest fruits and plush, soft tannins. Howard is an exiled Yorkshireman who has invested in a wine business, but has hired David Baverstock to make the wine. As an investment, the wine business is always folly, but it would be equally foolish to miss this wine.

Also working in the Alentejo is another Aussie, Peter Bright, who over the years has developed some of Portugal’s best, good value wines. Terras d’Alter is a new project, with a higher quality profile and a collection of varietal wines that capture the unique flavours of the grape and present it fresh as a daisy, clean and pure, but with a definite Portuguese accent. The Viognier 2010 (Halifax £8.95) while not a native grape in Portugal, has streaks of acidity as well as elegant apricot fruit.

Celebrity wines are usually best avoided, but after several years when the wine didn’t really merit the price, now Cliff Richard’s wines are showing the right kind of flavour for money, without counting the (printed) signature of the ever-youthful Cliff on the back label.

Waitrose now stocks Vida Nova Tinto 2008 (£8.99) made in the Algarve from a hefty dollop of Syrah with Aragonez and Alicante Bouschet making up the volume and I enjoyed it for its plummy, forest fruit and warm, juicy finish. Naturally Cliff doesn’t make the wine himself; he too gets David Baverstock from Esporão to oversee the whole process.

If Portuguese wines are still fairly new to your palate then the Tagus Creek range is a good place to start. Made from a blend of a local grape with one that you have probably heard of, these wines will ease your palate towards to new flavours of Portugal. At present the Rosé 2010 (Asda, Waitrose, around £5.99) is tasting really well, with lively Syrah fruit bolstered by Touriga Nacional, providing blackcurrant and raspberry fruit with a crisp finish.

Also good is Tagus Creek Cabernet Sauvignon and Aragonés blend which has the typical blackcurrant fruit of cab, with a ripe layer of Aragonés fruit lifting the palate.