Tag Archives: trincadeira

Luis Vieira Reserva Capital 2020, Portugal

18 Sunday May 2025

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Deep ruby colored, with medium viscosity (13.5 % ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of black plum, blackberry, licorice, coffee, mint, a hint of game, and cracked pepper.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, a medium body and medium tannins.  Medium intensity flavors of blackberry, black plum, kirsch, licorice, coffee and black pepper.  The finish is medium in length.  Overall this is a well made wine that will drink nicely till 2028 and pair great with steaks, burgers, and pasta.  It gets 88 points from me and for $14- 4 stars.  An interesting blend of Trincadeira (40%), Syrah (40%), and Aragonez, aka Tempranillo making up the balance.  Salut….

Luis Vieira Reserva Capital

Joao Portugal Ramos Reserva 2016, Alentejo, Portugal

08 Tuesday Dec 2020

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This blend of Tempranillo and Trincadeira took three days for me to rate. We opened it at the 13th Virtual Wine Tasting and the panel felt it had cardboard box, pepper, black cherry, dark chocolate and earthy notes. It was tannic right off the bat but we coaxed black licorice, dark cherry, sun dried tomato and a hoppy note out of it. I recall writing that this semi opaque wine of medium purple color was quite rich, if not a tad young and rushed. On night 1 it got 12/20 on my rating scale and a technical score of 91 points. I tried it again on night 2 and found it had a muted nose with some red currants and orange peel. The palate was slightly sour with blackberry, licorice and rhubarb. It was still earthy and tannic as heck. Night 3 is when this wine finally opened up for me. Black pepper, jammy blackberry and licorice on the nose gave way to a much smoother palate of iodine, blackberry, bramble and that earthiness. Oak is now evident but restrained making this wine quite complex. It has a smooth finish with well integrated tannins now and is in balance. I’m glad I got to witness a three day evolution of this highly rated $14 wine. It finished out at 92 points from me and gets a massive 5 stars for the QPR it brings. Drink till 2027. I would pair with a hearty steak if opening right now, or decant the heck out of it to soften the tannins. Salut….

Herdade do Esporao 4 Quatro Castas 2015, Vinho Regional Alentejano, Portugal

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

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In my continued quest to to discover Portuguese wines, I have come across this $14 effort that piqued my interest.  It is an equal blend of Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, Syrah and Alicante Bouschet.  My first hint is the 14.5% alcohol.  The second is the deep, dark purple color in the glass.  Both, to me, indicate an extracted, powerful wine that will grab me and not let go.  I’m ready for it.

On the nose, I get the telltale Syrah notes- Plum, oak, cocoa.  The wine has amazing ‘legs’ indicative of the alcohol content.  The initial taste is as predicted, full on, powerful and alluring.  The wine starts off with black berry, black currants and a delightful set of tannins that prop the wine up rather than detract from the fruit.  The mid palate shows off more dark fruit and some earthiness.  Tannic structure is great and they start to peak on the finish where menthol and anise flavors intertwine with berries.  I am digging this wine and like the flavor profile.  It has the correct structure to age for 2-5 years and is drinking well now if you like them a touch dry.  I have to go 90 points and 5 stars for this wine.  Salut….

Herdade Do Esporao Monte Velho 2015, Alentejano, Portugal

04 Wednesday Oct 2017

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See through in the glass is this blend of 40% Aragonez, 35% Trincadeira, 20% Touriga Nacional and the balance of Syrah.  On the nose it it musty- with some oak, blueberry and green pepper.  Kinda funky and different if you ask me.  The palate is a different story with primal flavors of blueberry, cedar, and graphite.  As the wine gets to the midpalate it adds some acidity and juiciness by way of rhubarb, (which I hated as a kid BTW).  Tannins are very fine grained and perceptible mainly on the finish.  A dryness envelops the gums and I feel balance.  The cedar I mentioned earlier comes out again on the back end and mingles with some more blue fruits.  There is an astringency that hits right at the very end that detracts a bit but overall this is a decent wine for the $6.88 I paid for it.  That’s right, under 7 bucks for a decent weekday quaffer that gets 87 points from me, therefore making it a 4 star wine.  Salut….