Winter 2022 Wine Club
The six club wines are detailed below and I’m excited to introduce you to new producers, wines, and regions. The wines span the Douro Valley, Vinho Verde, Dão, and Alentejo wine regions. We will have two live events and Chef Henrique of 2-Michelin Star restaurant, Alma, provides an incredible food pairing not to be missed.
Special Event Details
Alentejo Wine Webinar - Live!
This shipment introduces Wine Club members to the Alentejo through the wines of Miguel Louro. Miguel grew up amidst the wine culture of his family’s farm in Estremoz and now makes his own wines from organically grown fruit steps from where he was raised. We’ll take a deep dive into the Alentejo wine region and Miguel will join me, Ryan Opaz, and Club Members live via Zoom to taste his wines together and talk about the Alentejo. Live and interactive… don’t miss it!
March 20 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET via Zoom
RSVP to: jeff@jdselections.com
Wine Tasting with Rafa de Lima
Rafa is back! Regular Wine Club tasting host, Rafa returns. He is a featured contributor on the AirBnB "Experiences" platform, conducting online wine seminars globally. His professional wine and hospitality experience includes Ritz Carlton locations in Europe and the US, the Rosewood in London, and Michelin Star restaurants in the South of France. He now owns de Lima's Wine Bar in Porto. And… he is absolutely NOT fun to hang out and drink wine (or beer) with!
February 27 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET via Zoom
RSVP to: jeff@jdselections.com
Cook with Henrique Sá Pessoa
Michelin Star-decorated chef, Henrique Sá Pessoa joins JD Selections as a featured contributor to provide food and wine pairings exclusive to our club. Chef Henrique is at the pinnacle of Portugal’s rich culinary scene as the creative force behind Lisbon’s must-visit 2-Michelin Star restaurant, Alma. Follow his instructional videos and recipes from the comfort of your home kitchen.
Below are details on the Winter 2022 club wines. I hope you reference these as you enjoy the wine. My aim is to give you a sense of their place, process, and introduce the key people involved. The growers producing these wines are not only partners, but friends I spend time with and endeavor to learn all aspects of their business to deliver the highest quality wines to you. If you have any questions, reach out to me any time. Cheers, saúde!
2018 Mira do Ó Druida Tinto
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day to bring this specific wine to Wine Club Members. Nuno Mira do Ó is fast becoming a traveling winemaking legend throughout Portugal. His ability to translate native varietals in varied soil types and climates has him making wines in the Dão, Bairrada, Vinho Verde, Alentejo, and Lisboa wine regions. He rests his last name on his wines from Dão… Mira do Ó. Nuno’s professional training includes viticulture, and he is in constant search for the balance between soil, climate, and vines. He then seeks to sustain that balance through the sensory experience of the wines we enjoy and this philosophy is on full display with the 2018 Druida Tinto
The Dão wine region (wine map here) has highly attractive geographic and climatic conditions for growing grapes and is home to some of the country’s most exciting wineries. The impact of the Atlantic Ocean as a cooling agent joins forces with the Serra da Estrela mountain range and both help to moderate warm summer nights with cool evenings. At 1,500 feet of elevation, the vineyard position also helps lengthen the ripening season and mitigate heat. Mira do Ó vineyards in Dão sit on granite soil and are ideal for growing the Druida Tinto varietal blend of Jaen, Alfrocheiro, and Touriga Nacional.
Harvests are done by hand and fermentation done in open lagar with traditional foot treading. Each varietal is fermented separately with 50% whole bunch. The 2018 Druida Tinto blend is 40% Jaen, 30% Alfrocheiro, and 30% Touriga Nacional. The wine ages for 18 months in French oak barrels, with 30% of the wine seeing new oak and 70% used. The wine was bottled in June 2020. The wine shows black pepper, cinnamon, cherry, and violet flowers. It has elegance and structure in the mouth with present, but silky tannins. A unique combination of elegance and power that the Dão region provides is on full display here. 2-Michelin Star Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa of Alma in Lisbon has paired this wine for us. Check out the video and recipe here.
2018 Miguel Louro Primeiro Nome Tinto
Miguel Louro’s family has been making wines in the northern part of the Alentejo around the village of Estremoz since 1979. He grew up surrounded by wine culture at Quinta do Mouro, the family’s farm. After studying Agronomical Engineering at the University of Lisbon, Miguel completed internships in the Douro Valley and gained international experience making wines in Italy and Germany.
Miguel Louro began his eponymous wine project in 2010 to fulfill his desire to create wines that respect the deep history and tradition of the Alentejo region but do so without make-up or intervention. Miguel returned to the Alentejo and planted 5 hectares of vineyards in Estremoz, where he seeks to produce wines with freshness in an area known for great terroir. The vineyard is farmed with organic practices to promote and ensure the health of his land and surrounding environment. He takes a strictly minimal approach in the winery, producing wines low in alcohol content and full of the character representing the special place where they are from.
I spent time with Miguel over the summer and tasted through past, current, and future vintages of his wines. He’s the definition of a passionate, solo vigneron putting everything he has into his vines, winery, and the lovely product we enjoy in the bottle. This wine is the Wine Club’s first foray into the Alentejo wine region (wine map) which runs along the east-central part of the country inland against the Spanish border. The geographic area of the Alentejo covers one-third of Portugal’s land mass, though from a wine production standpoint, I tend to focus on the very northern part of the region. The areas of Estremoz (you’ll see the town of Borba on the wine map) and north in Portalegre. These areas of Alentejo tend to be higher in elevation and help mitigate the intense heat found in the eastern portion of the country. These areas have higher thermal amplitudes of warm days but cooler nights, optimal for growing grapes.
The 2018 Primeiro Nome (Portuguese for first name) is 40% Aragonez, 30% Trincadeira, and 30% Alicante Bouschet grown in schist and silt-loam soils in Estremoz. Harvests are done by hand and the wine ferments in stainless tank. It then spends 16 months in used French oak barrels before bottling. The wine is dark red in color with blackberry and spice notes on the nose. It is a medium bodied wine with strong but polished tannins, nice freshness, and a balanced finish. A great wine to pair with charcuterie or any type of meat dish.
Pro tip - when opening a wine with a wax-sealed top… open it like any other bottle. Take the corkscrew and twist it through the top of the wax into the cork, almost as if the wax was not there. The cork might take a bit more muscle to come out, but it will!
2018 Textura Encoberta
2018 Encoberta is the third red wine from the incredible Dão Region winery, Textura. Textura is gaining worldwide renown as fast as any Portuguese wine producer I’ve ever seen. Earlier Wine Club shipments featured the Pretexto Tinto and Pura Tinto. Overall, Textura makes more than fifteen references per year combined red and white. Their quality is undeniable. Textura vineyards and winery are in the Dão region (wine map) about 90 minutes drive outside of Porto. I’ve visited Marcelo Araujo, the owner numerous times in the past year as we’ve developed our working relationship and friendship. He continues to make significant investments in organic viticulture, hiring, and winery technology to keep pushing the boundary of quality.
The Dão has one of Portugal’s most attractive combinations of climate and geographic features offering optimal grape growing conditions. Marcelo and winemaker, Luis Seabra are focused on organically farming the most optimal sites in the Dão to best reflect this historic land. Encoberta is the name of a small village is the Castendo sub region where the vineyards for this wine are found.
2018 Encoberta is 50% Jaen, 25% Alfrocheiro, 15% Tinta Roriz, and 10% Touriga Nacional. The vineyards are close to 30 years old, at 1,500 feet of elevation, and of granite and clay soil. The grapes were harvested by hand in late-September and fermented in used 5,000 liter French oak vats. 35% whole bunches were included and the wine aged 15 months in a combination of used French oak foudre and large format oak vats. This is a characteristic “Dão wine” - denser and more structured than the Pretexto and Pura bottles sent previously. Black fruit and spice, dry, earthy, rich, and a long finish. I love drinking this wine in winter. Curl up on the couch with a book and a glass of this, or pair it with a wide range of meat or sauced dishes.
2018 Muxagat Tinta Barroca
Club Members who have done the full first year know and love Muxagat (pronounced Moo-sha-got)! These wines from the Douro Valley have taken off in a big way here in the United States and are now sold prominently at restaurants and retail shops in New York, California, and Colorado. Muxagat is located in the tiny village of Meda almost 3 hours drive from Porto at the eastern end of the Douro Valley (wine map). Located in the sub-region Douro Superior, this rugged growing area is at high elevation up against the Spanish border. The vineyards have been in the Lopes family for generations, and more recently Susana Lopes has taken both the viticulture and wine profile to great heights.
Winemaking is overseen by the legendary, Luis Seabra, who joined us to speak about Muxagat and the Tinta Francisca wine in June of 2021. You can watch the webinar recording here. These wines and my relationship with Susana, her family, and Luis are a major reason I began importing Portuguese wines. These are special, authentic people working very hard to drive the country’s wines forward.
2018 Muxagat Tinta Barroca is one of the most delicious Portuguese wines I’ve encountered. There’s no better way to describe it that “fun”! The key to this red and its light, fresh, enjoyable profile… no oak. As with all Muxagat wines, the farming practices are sustainable and focus on the natural, long-term health of the land and vines. The grapes are harvested by hand and go immediately to a cement vat for a one-month maceration with fermentation by native yeasts. The wine ages in underground cement tanks for 9 months without ever seeing an oak barrel. This process highlights the purity of the fruit with great acidity and freshness. An easy-drinking, highly versatile wine, I like to drink this wine at a cooler temperature than most reds but not as “cold” as a white wine. A great red to drink without food, it also pairs well with white meat, pasta, and barbecue. Pop and pour!
2018 Miguel Louro Alcunha Branco
Selecting the first wines to introduce Club Members to the Alentejo was a fun task. There’s a lot of exciting wines coming out of the the northern part of Alentejo. While tasting Miguel Louro’s wines together with Miguel in Lisbon over the summer, I knew immediately it had to be his wines that lead the way. The 2018 Alcunha (nickname in Portuguese) is a prime reason. I love everything about this wine. If you’ve ever done a 20+ bottle wine tasting evaluation… there are always one or two bottles that hit you in a way you keep coming back to. This is one of those wines for me.
2018 Alcunha is made from 100% Rabigato, a grape I love which is making a name for itself internationally from several emerging Douro Valley producers. Wine Club Members have enjoyed the Rabigato varietal from Muxagat and Pormenor in prior shipments. Often described as the “Portuguese Chardonnay” it has characteristics that winemakers love… especially its high natural acidity and great aromatics. It is also able to stand up on its own and while it can be blended, definitely does not need to be as is the case with Miguel’s Rabigato.
As with the Primeiro Tinto mentioned above, the grapes for 2018 Alcunha come from a small plot Miguel farms following organic principles at his family’s quinta in Estremoz. The grapes were harvested by hand and the juice left with skin contact for 12 hours. The wine fermented in used oak barrels where it aged for 7 months. This is a serious white (branco) wine with depth, tension, acidity, and a great mouthfeel. It has aging potential, but is incredibly enjoyable now. The wine has never seen the shores of the United States until now, and I imported it exclusively for Wine Club Member enjoyment. Cheers!
2020 Marcio Lopes Pequenos Rebentos Alvarinho
The 2020 Marcio Lopes Pequenos Rebentos delivers our Wine Club’s second journey with the Alvarinho grape varietal. I love Alvarinho, and Portugal is blessed with some of the best terroir in the world for showcasing it… the Vinho Verde region. No, the name Vinho Verde is not for the green color of what many perceive as the wines from this region in northern Portugal (wine map). The region is named such because of the fertile, lush, green farmland and scenery that dominates the landscape. This is Alvarinho country, and the best place for growing Alvarinho in Vinho Verde is the sub-region of Monção e Melgaço. Named after two villages at the very northern tip of Portugal on the southern banks of the Minho River separating Portugal from Spain, some including me argue this is the best site for Alvarinho… period.
This is where you’ll find Marcio Lopes… a maestro and global advocate of the virtues of great Alvarinho. Marcio comes from a family history in agriculture and at the age of 6 was treading grapes in the lagar with his Grandmother. After graduating from the University of Porto with a degree in Agronomic Engineering, Marcio began working with Anselmo Mendes, widely considered one of the best winemakers in the Vinho Verde region. To further his education, Marcio spent 2008 in Australia making wine for two properties. His homeland soon beckoned him back and in 2010 he launched his first vintage of Pequenos Rebentos, dedicated to the natural expression of Alvarinho and other native varietals to the Vinho Verde region. He has quickly made a name for himself and in 2019 won Portugal’s “Best Upcoming Winemaker” award.
2020 Pequenos Rebentos Alvarinho is everything I love about Alvarinho Monção and Melgaço - freshness, minerality, and balance. The grapes are from selected growers Marcio works with and farmed sustainably from old vineyard systems. Grapes are harvested by hand and pressed gently with 8 hours of skin contact and decanted for 48 hours. Fermentation is natural and done in stainless steel tanks. The wine then ages for 5 months with battonage. Battonage is the practice of stirring the wine with the dead yeast cells (lees) that settle at the bottom of the tank. This adds complexity, volume, and aromas to the wine. This is wine of strong varietal character, showing the Alvarinho grape “as it should be” per Marcio. Rustic, fresh, and well-rounded. Fruity and with herbal aromas from the skin contact. This wine can be enjoyed without food or paired well with fish or white meat.