Quevedo Vintage No. 1 (Red,Portugal)

I didn’t wait long to dive into my first case of wine from Naked Wines (www.nakedwines.com).

The first bottle I chose was by the Quevedo Family of Portugal’s Douro Valley.

While many wine drinkers won’t be familiar with the grapes, this is actually a classic Portugal/Douro Valley red blend: 40% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca and 30% Tinta Roriz (known as Tempranillo in Spain).

The Douro Valley is hot, so the red wines from here are generally ripe, rich and tannic. Having just returned from the Douro Valley (where we tasted many wines!), my impression is that the overall color/flavors/aroma of this Quevedo wine are typical for the region.

Considering how dark purple it was, the Quevedo was surprisingly light-bodied, with very pleasant red fruit aromas and flavors and good acidity.

The only issue for this wine is that the tannins are a bit rough. They hit hard on the finish, making it feel imbalanced. I strongly believe that this wine will taste better in 2-3 years, when some of the tannins precipitate and the fruit/acids/tannins are more balanced.

I put a review on the Naked Wines website. I said that I wouldn’t buy the wine again. But my “No” and 3-heart rating wasn’t really fair. It just means that I wouldn’t buy this wine AT THIS AGE again.

WINEKNOW:

• The Douro River flows out of Spain and across the width of Portugal emptying into the Atlantic at the lovely town of Porto.
• The Douro Valley has long been famous for its fortified Port wines, but dry wine production overtook Port production a long time ago.
• I would rate the Douro Valley as among the Top 5 most beautiful wine regions in the world. The whole valley on both sides of the river is terraced. Even if you aren’t into wine, you should visit the Douro. Assuming you are into wine (why else would you be here?) the Douro Valley is paradise.
• Touriga Nacional is the generally considered the premier native red grape of Portugal – it produces full-bodied, tannic, dark purple wines.
• Touriga Franca is a bit softer and fruitier then Touriga Nacional. It can also be quite floral on the nose.
• Tinta Roriz is the local name for Tempranillo. If you’ve had a wine from Rioja, you’ve had Tempranillo. Tempranillo wines tend to be a bit lighter-bodied with red fruit aromas and flavors.