2002 Quinta do Mouro Alentejo - Portugal, Alentejo, Estremoz, Alentejo (4/20/2006)Deep dark purple with hints of red. Just opened and very closed with chokecherry notes, basalmic, pepper, earth and smoke. Tannins are big and firm yet very fine. Medium acidity helps frame the flavors of blackpepper, anise, chokecherry, black cherry, and some wood. Big wine needing a few years to calm down.

D.O./Region: Alentejo, Portugal
Address: Albernôa 7800-601, Albernôa - Beja
Telephone: +351 289 510 460
Fax: +351 289 510 469
Email: rsoares@malhadinhanova.pt
Web:www.malhadinhanova.pt
Founded: 2003
Hectares of Vines: 20 hectares, 6 more were planted this year
Wine maker:Pedro Garcia - winemaker resident
Luis Duarte - winemaker consultant
Total Production Liters:68,000 liters
Wines Produced: Monte da Peceguina red 2004
Monte da Peceguina white, Monte da Peceguina rosé, Aragonês da Peceguina red, Pequeno João red, Malhadinha white, Malhadinha red
Exporters in the UK and USA:: None in the UK, Almost done negotiating with a US importer

Last month, I had an afternoon appointment at Quinta Malhadinha in the Alentejo. My goal was to visit a Cooperative in Reguengos and then head South past Beja to this new winery in the hopes of finding some new exciting Portuguese wines. I was well aware that it was a bit of drive, so I took the rare occasion to sit back and enjoy the sunny day with my windows rolled down allowing the wind to caress my shiny bald head. About an hour after I set off to the winery, I saw the white and blue estate perched on top of a hill beckoning me inside its shiny white walls. The hard part was not so much locating the estate, but rather finding the exact way to get to its front door. Like a mouse in a maze looking for that sweet morsel of cheese, or in this case a glass or two of wine, I ended up having to pull more than one u-turn to find the off-ramp that would eventually lead me to my goal.

Arriving a little after two in the afternoon, I pulled into the main parking area which sat between three buildings. To the left, sat the estate where the owners lived whose white-washed walls were skirted along the bottom by a glowing blue band typical of the Alentejo. Looking to your right sat a modern building with large glass doors hinting at the stainless steel tanks within forming the heart and soul of the operation. Directly infront of me stood a large wooden stable. This was later confirmed when I toured the property that indeed, both horses and poultry resided near here, but we’ll delve deeper into this topic later.

By now, everyone knows that I’m a sucker for an unknown varietal. Give me a wine with a grape whose name I’ve never heard of and I’m a happy man. Be it a Schiopettino from Italy or a Nergamoll from the Canaries, until I’ve tried it, I won’t be satisfied! It may not always be the best new grape or most interesting flavor, but nonetheless, it’s something intriguing, new and out of my realm of knowledge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the hunt or maybe it’s to make up for my inability to collect anything worthwhile - I sold all my baseball cards when I was 17, which are probably worth a small fortune by now - but I finally get to join the ranks of a privileged class.

The Wine Century Club, which I wrote about earlier on this blog, was founded by Deborah and Steve De Long in hopes of promoting the less obvious varietals in order to preserve some of the nuance found in the wine world. Today, I proudly announce my membership into this small group. Granted it’s membership is based on your word of honor - and technically, anyone can join - but I hope that those of you who do think of signing up would take the time to thoughtfully consider if you have the 100+ varietals needed to become a member.

To celebrate my membership, I want to add a new previously unknown, to me, grape to my list. During my recent visit to Alimentaria, I found a grape that peaked my interest called Eva de los Santos. I was at the Bodega Dolores Morenas both from Extremadura, a Spanish wine region with close links to the Alentejo in Portugal. This Bodega was recommended by a close friend, but in no way was I expecting to come across this special little grape.

Writing for this site has been an incredible learning experience. My job is to travel around the peninsula discovering wine unknown to you, and then go about convincing you that these Bodegas are worth learning about for yourself. This past week, while I was in the Alentejo, I continually felt as if I was discovering Bodegas new to the international wine market and of great importance to you; however, visiting a Bodega with a 700 year old history of winemaking makes the idea of “discovery” a bit like saying I’ve “discovered” the bottom of my cereal bowl each morning at breakfast. Such is the case with Quinta Esporão. If you suggest to a Portuguese wine lover the idea of this Bodega being a novel “up a coming” winery, they would probably respond by stating that pork is part of the Noveau cuisine in Portugal.

Bought in 1973 by Finagara, the Esporão Estate totals over 1500 hectares, including: 600 hectares of vines, olive trees, a 100 hectare reservoir, as well as archeological monuments relating the ownership of the property dating back to 1267. It is of no doubt that a lot has changed over the past millennium, but one thing has remained the same: incredible wine has been produced here for generations. But enough about the past, the present is a bit more relevant. With all the fame this vineyard has accumulated in Portugal, I felt a bit ashamed not to have known more about them before stepping foot on their Bodega. Sure, I had had a wine or two of theirs either during my wanderings in Portugal or at a trade show, but I didn’t realize how much they had contributed to the success of the entire region as a whole - that was until my appointment last Tuesday.

According to the map, it was a quick drive about an hour South of Évora, passing a few historic villages along the way. Seemed easy enough over a cup of coffee and a flat paper map, but driving in the Alentejo is a dangerous endeavor. Not as much for the traffic or the poor quality of the roads for they both tended to be quite good, but instead, as a result of the two-laned roads that lacked visual barriers to the beautiful countryside. In my opinion, this was a major oversight.

Just a quick note to say hello and to share how incredible I feel the Alentejo region is. I’ve seen five really interesting and innovative bodegas whose wines all pose new flavors and exciting levels of quality. In fact, it is by far the most tourist friendly wine region I have had the pleasure of visiting so far in Iberia. However, because I will be traveling for a few more days, I wanted to at least leave you a few pictures of my trip: one is of a sunset in the Alentejo near Evora and the other has a story behind it that’s a bit hard to believe.

The containers you see in the second picture are still used to produce wine in the traditional way. In fact, seven of the barrels are used for blending their highest quality wine from one of the bodegas I visited. I’ll tell you which one later, but for now, I’d love for you to take a stab at the following statement. Let’s see if you can fill in the blanks:
It takes ___ men, ____ days to ferment the wine in these clay tanks and then to clean them out. They are also cooled during the fermentation to a safe temperature by ____________ them.
Post a comment or send a note. The wine is red and only goes through primary fermentation in these tanks. Bonus: How much does it cost in Euros to replace one? This is good information considering that these barrels are still produced even today!

Talk to you all soon,

Ryan Opaz