TRAVESSIA Winery Blog

Living with wine in the "old world"

Early in March I visited the old village in the north of Portugal where I used to live as a kid. The reason? The family (read my dad) decided that we should re-plant the old vineyard which had succumb after years of neglect (we moved away several years ago looking for a "better life"). This is the birth of a new wine project that I'm excited about… more on it some time in the future.

Though I wasn't there for long, this was a chance to reconnect with the local wine culture. I visited 6 different wineries and had plenty of wine throughout each day.  This trip reminded me of how people in the "old world" live with wine.

For example, there just isn't much wine drinking happening without food.  Be it a simple bread and cheese spread or an all out meal, wine comes with food. Some of you may have already realized that many wines which don't taste good on their own, can taste much better with food. This is at times an argument used to justify bad wines, but a bad wine is not "fixed" by adding food. To put it in simple terms, what I'm referring to is a style of wine which is higher in acidity, lower in alcohol, less "extracted"... these are the types of wines which tend to be more pleasant with food. I also think that drinking wine with food simply allows people to drink more... and that's not a bad thing.

Another aspect that I find interesting is how few people speak about grape variety when drinking wine. When the grapes are brought into the discussion it's usually of secondary relevance, sort of a minor detail.  The emphases is mostly on how the wine actually tastes regardless of what grapes went into its making.  My own experience is that here in the US most people (myself included many times) have pre-conceived notions on how well they'll enjoy a wine based on knowing the grapes in it. Some people even feel uneasy about drinking a wine without knowing the grapes used in its making.  Though there isn't anything wrong with wanting to educate ourselves about the different taste profiles of each variety, I feel that we must not let it be the main determining factor in our wine drinking decisions and experiences.

The US has become a major wine drinking country but we are still learning how to live with wine in our daily lives. I hope that we can learn and benefit from some of our European counterparts approach. I believe we can do this without losing our identity.

The back label

I don’t buy wine without reading the back label on the bottle, especially if it’s a wine that I’ve never had before.  The front label may entice me to pick up the bottle off the shelf but the back label is one of the most influential factors in my purchasing decision.  What can the producer tell me in about 10 seconds that convinces me THIS wine is worth a try? 

Sometimes though, for example in a restaurant, you don’t usually get the chance to read the back label until after you’ve ordered the wine.  So in this instance, reading the label on the bottle is a way to kill some time while waiting for your food to arrive or to pause during your meal.
 
A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch at the Portuguese American club in New Bedford.  On Friday they serve a Portuguese dish called “Bacalhau com Batata ao Murro” (It’s grilled salted cod with roasted potatoes… a traditional dish that is highly recommended).  I ordered a Portuguese red wine that is available in half-bottle.  While licking the olive oil off my fingertips on one hand, I turned the bottle around with the other hand and started reading the back label.  Can you see me choking on a potato when my eyes came across the word autochthonous?  Ok, I didn’t choke, but what the f**k!?  Why did this wine have to make me feel ignorant while I’m having the time of my life munching down the best lunch I’ve had all week?
 
I hope that I'm not the only one who had to look this one up.  In any case, I don’t understand how anyone could think that this is a good word to use in a label to describe a product… any product.  I do admit that eventually thinking that someone had actually come up with this word made me laugh.  As for the wine itself, it was pretty decent, in fact not bad at all for $7 and it paired perfectly with the salted cod.  And now I’ve added a new word to my vocabulary though I doubt I will ever use it.
 
Is what you read on a back label part of your purchasing decision when it comes to wine?  Do you even read or care for back labels?  In your experience, are back labels generally "bull" or do they accurately describe the wine's taste and origin?

Madeira Wine and Independence Day

The volcanic island of Madeira (wood in Portuguese) is one of the several places that I hope to visit before I die.  I’ve seen the images on RTPi and there’s no doubt that this archipelago is a very unique place on earth.  Though Madeira is closer to Africa from a geography stand point, politically and culturally it is part of Portugal.  The island has rich biodiversity, great weather and a very unique wine.

I was about 13 the first time that I encountered Madeira wine while reading the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, one of the few books I’ve ever read from beginning to end.  But I was not aware of the role of Madeira wine in American history until the US History course in my senior year at New Bedford High.  That’s when the bilingual teacher proudly pointed out to all of us in the class that Madeira wine was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson.  Now that’s how you connect with a “fresh off the boat” Portuguese kid and teach him a little about American history!  Historians have documented that when the founding fathers raised a glass to toast the signing of the United States declaration of independence, it was Madeira they drank.  Madeira might have been the very first cult wine in America.

What I find most fascination about the wine however, is not its historical references but the process used to make it.  Madeira is made mostly from grape varietals Boal, Malvasia, Verdelho and Sercial.  The wine is fortified similarly to Port wine which means that brandy is added to the grape juice at some point during the fermentation.  Depending on when the brandy is added, the result may be a more or less sweet wine.  So, just like with Port, Madeira wine doesn’t necessarily have to be sweet.  So far no surprises... but what happens next is what’s so amazing about this wine.

After the brandy fortification, the wine is heated either naturally by exposing the barrels to high temperatures caused by the sun (process known as the “canteiro”) or by heating it in stainless steel tanks.  In either case, the wine is basically put through a mild pasteurization.  The “canteiro” method takes much longer and develops better flavors.  The wine is then left to age in oak barrels for many years and often exposed to air causing the wine to become oxidized.  Eventually the wine is finally transferred to glass containers or bottles.  The wine is also high in alcohol content (20+ % volume) so it’s very robust and will last for decades.

So, why do I find this process fascinating?  Because two of the most basic "rules" of winemaking are broken.  First, the wine is exposed to high temperatures for a long time.  Second, the wine is deliberately exposed to air.  Try this on any other wine which is not fortified and you end up with vinegar at best.

For this July 4th weekend why not stop at your local wine shop and pick up a bottle of Madeira wine to celebrate Independence Day?  That’s what I plan on doing and you can’t say that it’s not patriotic.  I wouldn’t recommend it with a burger or barbecue ribs but it should go well at the end of the night on its own or with some dessert.

Related Links:
Madeira wine guide
Most recent top quality Madeira wine offerings by the "Rare Wine Company" (pdf) 

If I had 2 million Euros...

I would probably find a way to spend it really quickly.  First of all I would invest in myself and immediate family.  I would start by paying off my mortgage and deposit a good chunk of the money in the girl’s college fund.  I would buy my parents-in-law a new house with a bigger backyard where their tomato plants could get more sun in the summer.  I would probably charter a plane, fill every seat with friends and family and head on down to the Caribbean… all inclusive for two weeks on me.

But I would also increase the amount of money we donate to charity. I would for example give a fair amount to a good local cause here in Massachusetts. There are close to 100,000 homeless children in Massachusetts. It hurts just imagining what it would be like if someday, somehow, my two little girls could have no place to call home.  Second, I would donate to Roots of Peace efforts in dimining my birth country of Angola.  Angola is the third most heavily mined country in the world with an estimate of 9 to 15 million landmines. The war is over but the landmines didn’t leave.  I’m not going to get into the discussion on why there is even the need for a non-profit organization to be involved in the removal of these landmines...

All this would make me feel really good.

Then I could spend the rest of the money guilt-free on this property in the Douro region of Portugal.  I’ve exchanged an email with the owner of the property, the legendary California winemaker Jerry Luper, who told me that the price had recently been reduced to just under 1 million Euros (original tag was 1.5 million Euros). I saw a few properties which looked like this one during the Summer of 2006 when I last visited Portugal and took a boat trip down the Douro river (I highly recommend it by the way).  If you want to know more about Quinta da Carolina, read this article in the New York Times from June of 2007. Check out the pictures in the article's slide show... phenomenal.

Portuguese blogger Pingus Vinicus wrote about the 2003 Quinta da Carolina in this post of one of my favorite Portuguese wine blogs "Pingas No Copo".  Gary V. reviewed the wine in one of his very first video reviews, episode #10, where he called the Quinta da Carolina wine an instant classic.  I've looked for this wine locally but no luck thus far.  No surprise given that only 4,000 to 6,000 bottles are produced every year.

IF only I had a couple million Euros…

Boston Wine Expo

I had a wine-filled weekend.  It begun Saturday evening with a dinner gathering of Gary Vaynerchuk, his close family and a few Vayniacs from the Boston area.  The food at Grill 23 was great as was the wine that everyone brought.  There was a bit of everything, from sparkling whites to full-body reds.  There was even a very expensive bottle of corked wine and a surprising magnum sized bottle of Cristal offered by someone who was sitting at the bar next to us.  I could not believe it when I saw the waitress walk into our dinning room with the Cristal in hand.

Then on Sunday I drove back up to Boston for the Wine Expo.  First I attended the “One Hour Wine Expert” seminar with Kevin Zraly.  This was a very basic seminar, sort of an introduction to wine and included a tasting flight of six different wines.  I didn’t learn much new there, but Mr.Zraly is a great speaker, keeping the entire presentation extremely fun and interesting.  Highly recommended especially for someone who is just getting into wine.  Check out his book “Windows on the World Complete Wine Course".

From there I went on to the “Grand Tasting” floor at the Seaport World Trade Center.  Upon entrance it was exactly what I had expected.  Thousands of people, each with a glass in hand tasting wines from all over the world.  Events like this are hardly a good way to appreciate a wine.  Imagine someone pours you a half-ounce, you swirl it around, sniff it, and put it into your mouth.  You drink or spit the wine and within a minute you move one to the next wine.  You can try to speak with the person pouring the wine, ask a few question about how the wine was made or why it tastes like it does, but for the most part they don’t have time to speak with you.  Their goal is to pour to as many people as possible.  I was told there were 8,000 visitors on Sunday.  I spent an hour on whites before moving on to reds which proved to be a good strategy.

The disappointment – Portugal
For the last few years I’ve been reading and hearing about the Portuguese wine industry putting a lot of effort into promoting their wines to an international audience.  The idea is that Portuguese “non-Port” wine is finally going to break into the international scene.  Judging from what I saw at the Boston Expo… it won’t happen.  Not now and not anytime soon.  If Portuguese vintners want to play in the big leagues they must turn the words into action and step up to the plate.   I wanted to see welcoming signs like the one Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers had to invite people to taste wine from their region.  I wanted the best and most unique wines from DOURO, ALENTEJO, VINHO VERDE, etc.  Where were the wines of the Douro Boys?  Where were the reds of Dirk Niepoort?  Where were the Alvarinhos of Anselmo Mendes?  If it was not for New Bedford-based importer and distributor Grape Moments and a few other small importers, the Portuguese presence at this event would have been embarrassing to say the least.  I admit that my data sample is small but don’t blame me for reaching this conclusion based on what I saw at one of the world’s largest wine expos.

Some wine is good… some wine is incredibly good – 4 Vines Winery
Clearly the all around winner from all the wines I tasted, this winery from Paso Robles, California, brought their best to the show not just some under $10 values.  Their Freakshow brand of wines consists of unique blends of Zinfandel, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, and a few other uncommon varietals.  They also have a 100% Petite Sirah that absolutely blew me away.  The catch… $30+ retail.  Not inexpensive at all but definitely worth that very special occasion.  Believe me, you haven’t had wine until you taste “stuff” like this.  Their Freakshow and Zinfandel 4-Vines (which I did not taste) are widely distributed in Massachusetts; I highly recommend you check their wines out.  I know I will.

In the end...
Besides tasting about 40+ wines, what did I learn that could eventually be useful to me as a winemaker/producer?  In my opinion, one-on-one interaction between winemaker and consumer is critical for the success of a very small winery like the one I have in mind.  The pace and environment of an event like the Boston Wine Expo is not conducive to this interaction.  So, I think the dollars would be better spent in other marketing efforts.  But, I don’t want to take value away from the expo.  It certainly is a great way to showcase a wine region and at least invite people to pursue wines they never had.

Picture:  by Steve Garfield, photographer and video blogger.

Listen Here Mr.Wine

Ó GENTE DA MINHA TERRA (Amália Rodrigues/Tiago Machado)
Mariza at The Late Show with David Letterman
CBS Television, U.S.A. - October 11th, 2007

Last Thursday night, the David Letterman show featured a performance by the Portuguese Fado singer Mariza.  Born in Mozambique to an African mother and Portuguese father, Mariza learned how to sing the Fado in Lisbon's Fado Houses during her childhood.

I often saw Fado being performed on TV while growing up in Portugal, but I confess that I don't listen to Fado regularly.  I do own a few CDs that I purchased in Portugal while on vacation there, but I listen to them no more than once in a long time.  A recent performance of Mariza at the Boston Berklee Performance Center confirmed what I already knew... that Fado is indeed something quite unique.  Then Fado is elevated to an amazing listening experience when delivered in a live setting by a true Diva like Mariza.  Her presence on stage is captivating and "demands" attention as typically expected at a Fado concert.

Then she brought up wine explaining how she keeps a bottle of "Tinto" backstage.  It was an introduction to the next song "Oiça lá o Senhor Vinho" (Listen Here Mr.Wine) a song about <<what wine will do to you if you drink to much of it>>.  All delivered in a very entertaining form.

Two things that I believe the rest of the world is starting to learn more of -  Fado and Portuguese Table wine. (Table meaning non-sweet wine, we all know that Port is well known all over the world already).

Last week, Wine Blogging Wednesday featured reviews of wines from Portugal, hosted by Catavino.  34 bloggers participated, tasting and reviewing 62 different wines from 10 different Portuguese DOCs.  Here is a quote from Catavino summarizing the results of this tasting of Portuguese Table Wines:

<<Overall, it appears as if Portugal was a huge hit as a quality wine region, influencing many of you to conduct further research into specific regions, grapes and wineries. However, the majority also found our WBW theme quite challenging, not only because Portuguese wine outside of the Douro or Vinho Verde are hard to come by (hence, why we included the PDF), but also because Portuguese wine in general has had little coverage outside of...well...Portugal. Consequently, I can only hope that Importers are listening, because as proven by this months theme, there is an untapped market just waiting to be discovered!>

Those of us who live in the New Bedford area, arguably little Portugal in America, are not familiar with the challenging aspect addressed in the Catavino summary.  We have plenty of Portuguese Table wines to choose from at our local liqueur stores, with prices ranging from $3.99 to $49.99 and spanning across every single region of Portugal.  But we are the lucky ones.  The rest of the country is not as fortunate as we are... at least not yet.

Recommended Wine & Music pairing:  Mariza's "Concerto em Lisboa" with a red Esporão Reserva 2003 Alentejo D.O.C.