Quinta da Esperanca - Alentejo Wine

Posted on April 18, 2008
Filed Under Now Drinking

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with wines from the Alentejo right now. There are so many of them; I couldn’t possibly keep up unless I developed a habit. Plus, most of the time, my palette just fancies trying different regions, and considering Portugal is full of wine regions, its hardly a problem satisfying a promiscuous pallet.

On a way out to dinner at a friends, we thought to pick up a nice bottle of red, unsure of what would be served it was a a bit of a gamble, so when we came across a bottled decked out with metals resembling a decorated soldiers uniform, we thought we were in good hands.

When time came to serve this highly awarded red, we were excited to see what the fuss was all about. But on trying the wine, the look on the faces at dinner said something else….no one seemed impressed…what? Hummm, not the reaction we expected or hoped for - the wine was flat, and dare I say, chalky. Feeling let down, we went on with dinner anyway, then about 3/4 of the way through, we all noticed something…the WINE! Bold, rich, fruity and distinctive….that’s what the fuss was all about, this sleeping beauty needed to breath! Should have known better, especially with a 2004, we could have decanted Quinta da Esperanca well before, and had a wonderful wine right from the start. Note for next time.

If you’ve got a meaty, tomato or herb rich meal, or some great cheeses give this bottle a try. But remember to decant it, and give it lots of surface area to breath before serving, taking the cork out won’t do it justice, it needs room to breath. Saude!

Quinta da Esperanca 2004
Region: Alentejo (see photos on flickr)