Since it's the middle of winter (although it hardly feels like it
these days), this is the natural season to consume a glass of that delightfully
fortified product, Port.
Port, in the world’s least surprising reveal, originated in
Portugal. Port is initially fermented like a typical wine, but a neutral grain spirit
is added to stop the fermentation and leave some residual sugar in the mix, which
ultimately conveys the sweetness to the stuff.
Practically all ports are blends. There are about 100
different grapes approved for use in Port making, but there are five primary native
(or autochthonal, if you want to use
the official terminology) varietals. The king of these native Portuguese grapes
is a varietal called Touriga Nacional.
Touriga Nacional vines bear small grapes with a high skin to
pulp ratio – meaning that the juice flavors tend to run to the powerful side. Touriga
Nacional provides depth and color to most blends. Touriga Nacional vines are
very fast-growing, but those vines have some of the lowest yields of any
vinifera grape.
Although Touriga Nacional is generally considered the finest
Portuguese red varietal, until the last few years it comprised only around 2%
of Portugal’s total vineyard plantings. In the last decade, however,
improvements in vine maintenance and crossbreeding have upped TourNac yields,
and Portuguese winemakers have begun making dry red wine blends featuring it.
Enter Rabisco 2015 Reserva
Tejo -- a dry red wine made from 50% Touriga Nacional and 50% from good ol’
Cabernet Sauvignon.
To break the wine’s name down a bit – Rabisco means “Scratch”
in Portuguese. The winery from which this wine hails is part of an animal sanctuary
and dozens of bird species pass through during migration. Most famously, storks
winter in this region – and the wine label centers on a freehand pencil “scratch”
sketch of one of these beautiful birds.
Tejo is the region surrounding the Tejo River, near the
vineyards of the grapes. “Reserva” simply means that it’s a high quality,
single vintage wine, but official aging or fermenting definitions aren’t attached
to that term.
What’s this wine like? Well, for starters, it’s relatively
inexpensive (as are many Portuguese wines) – retailing at $13. Not
surprisingly, considering the skin thickness of the Touriga Nacional grape, it’s
a big, honking mouthful of tannin, especially before the wine’s had time to
open up. Decant for half an hour if you can. The Cabernet adds some dark fruit –
blackberries and currants – which are deepened by the TourNac – but it’s
certainly no fruit bomb.
It’s a wine longer on tannins than richness, so if you’re
looking for something with a lighter body but a bigger flavor punch – it would probably
appeal. I would imagine that the combination is somewhat of an acquired taste.
I thought it was worth a try – especially alongside a braised pork dish or a
tapas-y spread of appetizers. The SPinC thought it was too punchy for her
palate.
