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Portugal: There is much more to it than just Port
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Isacs is the founder and CEO of EnjoyGourmet, a leading gourmet digital (www.enjoygourmet.com.cn) and print media company in China. He has authored over a dozen wine and food books including the awarded ISACS Guides and other gourmet books and is a wine consultant to governments, wine regions and organizations. He also hosts wine events for leading organizations and companies throughout China. Contact John via jcolumn@enjoygourmet.com.
The guide Michelin is back in town. Although I remain skeptical that foreign guides can be as accurate as local guides in rating the restaurants in our city, I do have to admit that France’s most prestigious guide did a better job this year. In fact, rating restaurants and wines is a difficult process that’s never perfect. However, with objectivity, dedication and a healthy dose of humility, it can work.
Rating wines by numbers, stars or other symbols is a relatively recent development. Classifications like the Bordeaux Grand Cru Classe and other systems were some of the earliest attempts to rate wines. In 1855, Emperor Napoleon III asked for the top Bordeaux chateaux to be rated as part of the festivities of the Exposition Universelle in Paris. As imperfect as the 1855 and other classifications of the time were, they still played an early role in helping people understand the quality of wines and remain influential today.
Over four decades ago some wine lovers started to rate wines using numbers. Most prominent was wine critic Robert Parker and he was quickly followed by publications like Wine Spectator. The scoring system they adopted was a copy of the 100-point system used in grammar and high schools in the United States with 50 being a failing score, or undrinkable, and 100 perfect. The system was so easy for Americans and other consumers to understand that a new age of consumer-driven rating systems was born.
Other popular wine rating systems use a 20-point scale that’s more in sync with the grading system used in French higher education. The University of California at Davis, the most prestigious wine school in the US, uses a slightly different 20-point system that was developed in the 1950s by Dr Maynard Amerine. Another popular system is the five-star scale that mirrors the rating of hotels. There are also systems that mimic the famous Michelin restaurant guide three-star system. The most notable among these is Gambero Rosso, Italy’s most famous wine guide that awards one to three glasses. Whichever rating system you favor, there’s one often overlooked wine-producing nation that consistently merits stellar scores.
Some of the oldest and best wines in the world originate from the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. Tribes living in the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal, naturally fermented wild grapes as long as 7,000 years ago. However, the first verifiable instance of winemaking in Portugal was by the Tartessian traders in 2000 BC.
The Phoenicians followed the Tartessians and brought new varieties from Greece and the Middle East. The Celts and Greeks also settled in the area and brought their vines. But it wasn’t until the Romans arrived that winemaking truly became a major industry.
In the following centuries, the English also played a huge role in developing Portuguese wines, not only Port but also red and white wines. Aside from trade with England, the Portuguese wine industry has historically been quite isolated and insular. One big and rather unfortunate exception was the success of Mateus and Lancers roses. These mass-produced, insipid rose wines accounted for the gross majority of Portuguese wine exports in the latter half of the 20th century. But in the new millennium, it’s the high-quality dry white, roses and reds from small to medium-size producers in the Douro Valley that are exciting the wine world today.
The Douro Valley is not only the largest wine region of Portugal but also the oldest. In 1756, the Marquis of Pombal created Regiao Demarcada do Douro. This was nearly two centuries before the French initiated their AOC system. Today, in addition to Port which also comes from this region, Douro makes many of the best dry wines of Portugal. The Dao region is best known for powerful and tannic reds, although some producers are experimenting with lighter more fruity wines. The Bucelas region is making some lovely full-bodied whites, while the Vinho Verde is now making delightfully fresh and clean white wines.
Knowing the 500 plus indigenous varieties of Portugal is a daunting task for even wine experts. Making things even more complicated is the fact that many older vineyards may be planted with multiple grapes so identifying the grapes of the resulting wines is nearly impossible. In many cases, even the winemakers are not sure of the exact varieties. These field blend wines may be interesting but vary quite a bit in quality. Newer vineyards are almost always planted with one variety which portends well for winemakers, consumers and the future of Portuguese wines.
As in many non-mainstream wine regions, knowing the right producer is critical. Excellent Portuguese producers who have wines available in Shanghai include Symington, Post Scriptum, Altano, Caves Alianca and Broadbent.
Where to buy in Shanghai
Varieties:
The main grapes in Douro are Tinto Nacional, Tempranillo and Touriga Francesa for reds and Esgana and Verdelho for whites.
Key term:
In wine talk, the word clean is used to describe fresh wines that lack any off sensations.
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