Foz De Arouce Tinto 2015
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Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Tinto Quinta de Foz de Arouce is an 80/20 blend of Baga and Touriga Nacional, aged for six months in used French barriques. It comes in at 14% alcohol. Since I saw this last, just before bottling, it has fleshed out. It is somewhat supple now but full in the mouth and still tight on the finish. It is beautifully textured too, the silk caressing the palate. This has come around well, exceeding expectations. Add the vivid (but controlled) flavor, and it is a very nice deal that can age for at least another decade or so.
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Foz de Arouce has a long history of winemaking that can be linked to the legend of the Arab King Arunce, who built a castle in the region to protect his daughter, his treasures, and, of course, his wine. Today, the fourth Count of Arouce, João Filipe Osorio, lives nearby in his 16th century family home, overseeing one of the most consistently top-rated estates in Portugal – Foz de Arouce. The estate has a rich history: A Roman road runs through the vineyard, and it was the site of the 1811 Napoleonic Battle of Foz de Arouce. In 1939, a tornado destroyed the pine forest that had covered the land and the family took this opportunity to repopulate the area with vines. Some of the original 70-year-old vines still produce fruit today. The estate is the definition of unique terroir – not another vineyard is to be found in a 50-mile radius.
Conde de Foz de Arouce is located in the Lousã Municipality, near the city of Coimbra, in the region of Beira atlantico. The estate comprises 150 acres of vineyard on schist and quartz soils. The vines are planted on a steep mountain that faces the sun and is bathed in fog each morning, a crucial component to preserving freshness in the wine. Surrounded by windmill-topped mountains, the vineyard is protected from the strong Tejo winds. The vineyard is planted primarily with Baga, though many other traditional Portuguese varieties are included. Wine production is limited to around 10,000 bottles of red and 1,500 bottles of white each year. A focus on terroir is emphasized, producing some truly unique wines, as Foz de Arouce is the only vineyard in a 50-mile radius. Top Portuguese oenologist João Portugal Ramos has married into the family and helped lift Foz de Arouce’s wines to Portugal’s uppermost echelon.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.