Wine: Monte Velho, Portugal - Ruby red elegance par excellence

in wine •  7 years ago 

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A

very

Good

Choice!

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The Monte Velho

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Proud and happy he stands as he enjoys he the reaction of pleasure-lovers.

It's a popular wine and since I tried it out I know why. It is not too sweet although in the very beginning it has a fruity and sweetish taste. It's from the region of Alentejo.

It's ruby red and elegant. The balanced wine is the perfect companion to a meal. With 13% Vol. it is quite potent. The Monte Velho is a Cuvée consisting of Aragonês (40%), Trincadeira (25%), Touriga Nacional (25%), and Castelão (10%) grapes.

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The beautiful design represents the art of the region.

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Made and bottled by Esporaõ

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The Portuguese are hard to convince not to use cork. "It adds to the taste" the women in the shop told me. Good, I enjoy the fizzling on the palate as I imagine how the cork influences the experience.

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Look at this beauty

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You cannot go wrong with this one. It is actually perfect. Elegance and fire - enjoy!

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Stunning indeed! Magnificent photos, especially the ones of the glasses. Just Beautiful. Very proud and unmistakenly happy he dances with the wine. I am enjoying a Hungarian red myself at the moment. Cheers between lovers of wine and all the good things!

Hi! Nice, you are so friendly and know how to express yourself, I feel as proud as the bottle, cheers! :)

That's a nice choice, Monte Velho! It's been a while since I had some, but I used to like it very much. Since you're in the Azores, you should try wine from the island of Pico, which I've never tried but I've heard its quite unique. Try asking around to some local people.

I'd like to comment on Portuguese obsession with cork. Cork has been used to seal wine bottles for centuries now, and Portugal is the world's main producer of cork. While what the shop lady told is not exactly wrong, she failed to explain why it added to the flavor. The tight yet porous nature of cork allows just the right amount of oxygen to reach contact with the wine, which allows for a slow but flavor enriching oxidation of some of the wine's components. This is mostly important for aged wines; those which are to be consumed in the course of a year or so do not benefit much from this. Nowadays, there are of course synthetic materials which can have the same features as cork. However, in Portugal we still tend to prefer one of our hallmark national products: cork.

Also, the map you've shown does not represent very well the location and extension of Alentejo. While it is indeed in the south of Portugal, it does not include the southernmost part (which is Algarve), and also it extends further to the north up to the river Tagus. Herdade do Esporão, which is where Monte Velho is produced, is located to the southeast of Évora, near the Alqueva dam, the largest artificial water reservoir in the Iberian Peninsula. This region has a very old and strong tradition in wine making, and its soil and weather lend it a rather singular character among Portuguese wines.

Sorry for the long comment, I just meant to build upon your very nice post! Cheers!

Thanks again for this great reply!

The best reply I ever got!

I asked some people where it is but they didn't know. In maps I only found crap and then gave up searching! Hahaha, that's bad, I will fix it. Wait, i will post the pic here.

This post received a 2.8% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @shla-rafia! For more information, click here!

Cool photos. I like the second one the most cuz it looks really good :)

I shot it while standing. Was lucky. Thx!

nice