Winemaker Notes
Deep violet in color with deep concentration on the nose, boasting a rich perfume of ripe black fruits and floral notes. Elegantly structured with rich tannins, Vinha Mãe has a wonderful capacity for aging.
Pairs wonderfully with prime cuts of steak and roasted fingerling potatoes
Blend: 40% Tinta Roriz, 30% Touriga Nacional, 30% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The top red from Chocapalha, this comes from a single parcel. It has concentrated tannins, along with the minty flavors that come from new wood. Balancing that combination are the rich fruits: blackberry, damson along with a touch of licorice. Its a powerful wine that needs aging."
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Wine & Spirits
A blend of tinta roriz, touriga nacional and syrah that feels clean and perky, this has the brisk, peppery spice of wild arugula. Though the wine is not heavy, the tannins are black, a little tough against the violet-scented fruit, needing a slice of hanger steak to buffer them.
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Wine Spectator
This concentrated red bursts with currant and raspberry notes woven together with plenty of white pepper, anise and herb accents. Undertones of mineral and floral lend depth through the grippy, lip-smacking finish. Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Syrah. Drink now through 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Vinha Mãe is the current release. Chocapalha holds wines back to allow development in the bottle, so that's a fair part of the price you're paying. It is a blend of 40% Tinta Roriz and 30% each of Touriga Nacional and Syrah, aged in French oak for 20 months. This is reasonably full in body but beautifully crafted, too. It is balanced, fresh and shows good structure, the ripe tannins supporting the fruit well. The finesse on this is admirable, making it easy to drink and a great food wine. It also finishes with flavor. It is still a bit tight and just a bit tannic, but it is easily approachable. This was not quite released when tasted, but it will be out around the time this article appears and it should be in reasonably good shape then. It will hold well over the next decade, at the least, maybe more.
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.