This time we are at Catavino with the hard theme Portuguese Table Wines with Caveats!. For achieving bonus points I discovered here in Oldenburg, Germany, two wines I never heard about (only in my study books!) and never tasted like a Ribatejo and a Bairrada. I tasted the famous Quinta da Logoalva Da Cima Reserva 2001 made by Afrocheiro Preto, Castelao Frances, Cabernet and Syrah and the outstanding Marquis de from Bairrada made of the misterious Baga grape.
For the Lagoalva, I drunk the wine with a german goulash withouts spices and with bacon-knodel. The wine was a Reserva 2001 and was still fresh and acid so the fat of the knodel was perfectly balanced and the alcohol (13,5%) and the tannins present but not so hard, were ideal for the liquid from the goulash. The smell remembered me the one of a young brunello.

Notes of cherry, black pepper, vanbilla and cinnamon, leather. Then some other more typical warm wine notes like plum and strawberry jam.
The taste was not so hard as I thought with good and gentle tannins and a fruity finish n which was more present Afrocheiro or Periquita than the Cabernet or the Syrah. Definitely not bad, even for a 18 euro (I bought it in a shop in Germany).
Not counting for this WBW I managed to taste a “infamous” VinhoVerde, from Vidigal, made only of Alvarinho and I must admit that was really fresh (almost carbonated) and with a pleasant taste of apple and citrus. Here too, not bad at all for a 4,5 euro wine.
The other red one Portoguese wine I tasted was more interesting for it was the not so common Bairrada DO with the Marquis de Marialva Reserva 2001. . This time I found a stranger wine, lot less international than the other with an aroma ten times less for intensity. But the lack of aroma was well balanced with a wonderful and full taste of good wine with a strong body, well balanced tannins and a fruity, yet simple, finish. I found the Bairrada maybe a little bit less complex at the nose but a more honest wine in the palate. Just about the different you can taste between a good old school Chianti and an internatial Chianti made of Sangiovese and Merlot (that I HATE!).
This bairrada had smells of cherry, of blackcurrant, of sweet tobacco and a strange violet smell that reminded me of Tuscany. The aromas were maybe more typical of a warm climate than the Lagoalva but I found this wine interesting for its strange feeling and mixing of the smell with the tasting.
At the end of the day, the Lagoalvo was almost perfect (89) and smooth wine for everyone taste, but I must admit that I found more honest, interesting and, in my not so long experience, more “Portuguese” than the other.
but for explaing this I thing that CaTavino is more useful than me!