Tasting Quinta do Carmo 2008

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Occasionally it is only known that a good wine was drunk when you drink another else...

The wine:
Quinta do Carmo 2008, from vines planted in clay and shale soil, selected from traditional Alentejo varieties - Aragonese, Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet - and a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon to give it more structure.

In the eye:
Deep and clear ruby-garnet, showing that it wasn't just brought from the vineyards to the bottle.

On the nose:
Delicate notes of black fruit, chocolate and a bit of toast.

In the mouth:
It has enviable delicacy and lightness itself, with balanced tannins and acidity without excessive plus a intense black fruit with chocolate and tobacco.

Comments:
No hype and no pretenses. A good wine, with its own profile, to be consumed with specific moderate spiced food. It doesn't disappoint, and fulfills well its role.

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Tasting CR&F Aguardente Velha Reserva

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Another one from my trip to Portugal. Almost impossible, on holidays, don't give yourself some treating! After those marvellous diners, divine wines and lovely desserts, the only things you need is a good expresso and a taste of a digestif! As I like to go beyond the standards, I surprisingly found this CR&F in a little restaurant in Lagoa. After having one at that night, I had to buy a bottle and do a proper tasting...

This Reserva brandy is made by Carvalho, Ribeiro & Ferreira (CR&F), in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, the same place were Porto wines are produced. The first thing that comes to your attention is the bottle, a unique design and semi-handmade production which gives its own distinctive identity.

Very clear ob the appearance and showing a beautiful medium-amber colour, after allowing the alcohol aerate a little bit, the clean aromas of nuts, almonds, nectarines are quite pronounced. In the palate it reiterates the nuts, opening to hazelnuts and a medicine-like taste which could recall liquorice and juniper, in a very dry sensation, medium body and length.

A very good brandy aged for years in national oak barrels, it has soft flavours and rich and complex aromas. A well balanced and potent brandy!

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Tasting Reserva Lagoa 2009

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This full-bodied Portuguese wine from PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) Lagoa, stands out for its price - a mere 2.20 euros! I bought it in Adega Única, where the Crato Preto, Aragonês and Castelão grapes are vinified, and then the wine produced and bottled. It is medium ruby in colour and it has pronounced aromas of black fruit and olives. Althought it is already quite mature, its tannins suggest that the wine could age a bit more. Drink it now or in the next year.

On the palate, medicinal and mushrooms notes. There's no much fruit, it's true, but it's still a little of blueberry, blackberry, and sometimes blackcurrants. A wine of particular characteristic, which left me somewhere between the deception and the curiosity. I've opted by the curiosity.

Its high acidity allows strong dishes matching, with intense sauces. I snacked a Wicklow Blue, one of many Irish delicacies, and the wine improved a lot in the palate!

As I said, a curious wine ...

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