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Portugal
by Antonio Mauriello
My Latin experience in Toronto, after the Spanish tasting day, lasted
until Thursday, the day I "moved" to Portugal! This narrow country, so
exposed to the furious Atlantic Ocean, seems to be known only for Port.
Well, there is more... Much more.
The Portuguese Trade & Tourism commission organized a wine tasting of seven major wine producers united in a consortium called G7 with the purpose of promoting Portuguese wines worldwide. A Consortium of companies are not usual in Portugal, which makes this Group, created in 1992, a very innovative project. The tasting was held in the luxurious Windsor Arms Hotel in the heart of Yorkville. A big hall located at the entrance of the hotel and separated from the reception by an attractive wrought iron gate, was the perfect setting for the event. Around the walls, the seven producers were showcasing 6-8 wines each and at the center ... well, of course...FOOD! The main attraction was a whole Jamon Serrano (Spanish prosciutto) that was positioned in a traditional-style stand and was being cut by hand and served with fresh black figs and fresh goat cheese. Then a few specialties, like Valdeon, a very pungent blue cheese from the Spanish province Leon which borders Portugal. This cheese is matured in vine leaves to prevent the cheese from drying too quickly. This is a typical example of cheese obtained with a mix of cow's and goat's milk. I have tried it with a Moscatel fortified sweet wine. A perfect marriage!
Now, the wines of Portugal. Like Spain, as I described yesterday,
Portugal is on its way up. Many wines have potential, given by a good
structure, a fair amount of acidity to sustain a medium/long aging and
powerful tannins "sweetened" (a word I like to use instead of
"softened") by the aging in new or used oak.
Like for any country in the world (and this is valid especially for the
Old World) it is interesting to discover Portugal's native grape
varieties. White indigenous include; Loureiro, Trajadura, Pederna,
Alvarinho and Moscatel de Setubal, from Setubal, a city near Lisbona.
Many of them are aromatic (Loureiro and Moscatel) and many others
donate to the wine a pleasant "green" acidity that matches perfectly
with the local Portuguese cuisine based on fresh fish and seafood.
On the red side, I encountered names such Touriga National, Tinta Cao,
Periquita, Castelao, Tinta Roriz and Aragones. These last two are
regional names that locals have assigned to the Spanish Tempranillo
grape.
Prices varied from $7 to $55 and 40% of these wines can be found at the
LCBO or Vintages. The remaining is private order or consignment only.
A total full immersion. Once I came out from the Armsor Hotel, after 4
hours, my eyes went up and the first thing I saw, instead of the
Atlantic Ocean, were the Toronto's skyscrapers meeting the clouds. I
guess I am not in Portugal after all...
California
by Rutha Astravas
Viva Zinfandel!
January 24-27, marked annual ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) festival in San Francisco. This group is made up of over 300+ producers and around 5,000 American and international advocates who seek to advance public knowledge of and appreciation for American Zinfandel and its unique place in American culture and history.
I attended the Saturday morning trade and media walk-about tasting which featured an incredible 270 wineries showing new and older releases plus some barrel samples. Wafts of dark fruit welcomed everyone even before collecting our programs, glasses, and baguettes at the Bay-side pavilions. Excited crowds of devotees lined up hours before the afternoon public tasting and were treated to mariachi singers.
Although ZAP is a main Californian wine event, the tasting is fun and laid-back: it's the first time I saw trade people wearing flashing badges, silly hats, or distributing tattoos or bumper stickers with sayings such as Ravenswood's 'No wimpy wines'. But don't be mistaken: people know what they are looking for and all wineries happily take time to talk about their products and cultivate loyal clients, particularly when a large proportion of zins sell for US$ 35-40.
With so much choice (every California appellation, small and famous producers alike, entry-level through to $100 old vine bottles, late harvests, zin 'ports' and sparkling reds), I aimed to taste mid-to-high samples as well as full ranges of pre-eminent wineries. My conclusion: there is no average zin. Everyone could find something enjoyable: $10-15 house wines elegant, restrained, complex old-world style wines, 14-16% alcohol fruit bombs, intense and tannic monsters for cellaring, and rich, chocolate-loving, dessert wines.
Good news: if you can't travel to the West Coast this year, the California Wine Fair is coming to Ottawa and Montreal this April where you can try many zinfandels, in addition to other varietals California is well-known for.
-Rutha Astravas