Portuguese wine has a reputation as being good value, and I don't think I try enough of it. This is £5.99 (regular price) at Oddbins.I need to keep things in context here. £5.99 to me is a good price for an everyday wine, if a little high (I can frequently find stuff I really enjoy for under £5, with all the special offers). It may not be cheap for other people, and for yet others it may be regarded as plonk territory. Let's just say it's certainly affordable to most wine drinkers.
At first I found it a bit disappointing, but only because it's of that soft, easy drinking style that I don't usually go for. The little blurb on the shelf at Oddbins said it would go well with pizza, and we were having spaghetti bolognese for dinner, so it seemed like a good choice. Indeed, it went fairly well with the food - my only gripe was the oak character in the wine, which was noticeable. It has some spice and perfume notes as well, it reminds me of a southern French red.
Going back to the price, it seems good value, maybe a pound or so less though?
Incidentally, this wine is classified as VR Lisboa under the Portuguese wine classification system, which is roughly equivalent to a French Vin de pays. It is made with indigenous grape varieties.
Thanks to reader Marc for recommending this wine.
Quinta de Bons-Ventos 2008
VR Lisboa, Portugal
Oddbins
£5.99
3/5
Posts
Yes, a 3 is right for this one - glad it went down reasonably well. I think the reason I've been drawn to 'easy drinking' wines like this recently is because I work from home and knock off work at 6-ish and like a glass without food then, and then later have some more with food. So this sort of wine suits, as you don't gag from a heavily tannic taste from a more robust wine that's just been opened.
ReplyDeleteAs for the price, bear in mind Oddbins will sell you this at £4.79 for two or more in a dozen - that has to be the way to buy wine more cheaply these days and so avoid the temptation of those half price Tesco offers...
This is a very good "everyday" wine - I picked up a bottle of it at my favorite wine store in Boston. Pairs well with salad and fish, or a light dinner.
ReplyDeleteMarc if you like soft reds you should check out Victoria Moore's column this week: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/27/wine-writing-terminology-review
ReplyDeleteShe's probably my favourite newspaper wine columnist, just more in tune with the common wine drinker.