2008 JM Fonseca Twin Vines Vinho Verde

Hot Summer, Cool Wine, Vivo Portugal!

They say the summer’s been hot. Has the summer been hot for you?

Here in the Bay Area, the summer of 2010 will end up going down as maybe the coldest in a half-century. No 100+ degree days, only a handful of days over 90, even in the East Bay valleys, notorious for their triple-digit July and August heat waves.

But still, you don’t all live here. More likely than not, you, the person reading this, does not live in the greater Bay Area, and perhaps your summer has been really freakin’ hot. If that’s the case, read on. If it isn’t, read on as well.

What? I’m not about to suggest you go read someone else’s wine blog.

2008 JM Fonseca Twin Vines Vinho Verde

2008 JM Fonseca Twin Vines Vinho Verde

That’s the bottle. Pretty, yes?

So’s the wine. If you haven’t had a Vinho Verde before, you probably should. From Portugal’s Minho region, in the northern part of the country, these light white wines are blends of alvarinho, treixadura, loureiro, and other local white grape varieties. They’re crisp and refreshing, generally. And for the people tired of reading my reviews of wine that costs over a hundred dollars a bottle, Vinho Verde tends to be rather cheap.

So what’s the deal with JM Fonseca’s Twin Vines? It’s a very light yellow in the glass, pretty and almost clear. On the nose, pear and a pleasant grassiness match up with a light nuttiness, perhaps almond? It’s nice, and subtle, whatever it is.

The wine is light-bodied and crisp, and features a touch of frizzante. What is frizzante, you ask? It’s a light bubbliness. This isn’t sparkling wine, of course, but there is a touch of sparkle on your tongue when you drink it. The finish is short, and the pear and nuttiness from the nose round out the palate.

This isn’t mind-blowing wine. Nor is it meant to be. On a hot day, this kind of bright, crisp, flavorful white wine is just what the meteorologist ordered.

Oh, and the cost? Not bad at $5-$10 per bottle. Not bad at all.

Verdict: B

A Red? From Vinho Verde?

NV Casal Garcia Vinho Verde Tinto

About six weeks ago or so, I ventured into the lovely K&L Wine Merchants in San Francisco looking for Portuguese wine. I found that lovely Quinta do Crasto Douro I liked so very much, but while I was there I also grabbed this $7 oddity: a red wine from Vinho Verde.

As it turns out, while the vast majority of the wine exported to the United States from Portugal’s Vinho Verde region is white, something like half of the wine produced within the region is red. Primarily for local consumption, there just isn’t an international market for what they call Vinho Verde Tinto.

And, frankly, I can see why.

This wine is weird. First, the admonition on the label to “Serve Chilled” throws those of us used to drinking red wine at room temperature a bit for a loop. Second, I’m just not used to lots of still wine that is non-vintage, but here’s one of those as well (this, admittedly, could be mostly my own inexperience talking). But are you ready for this? Red wine that tastes like apple?

Yeah, apple. To the full notes:

The color of the wine is dark purple in the very core, and lightens to a more pastel purple at the edges. It really doesn’t look “red” at all. On the nose–oh, the nose on this wine–I get an overall impression of overripe apples that have fallen to the ground in an orchard. You know that smell of apple orchards in autumn? If you don’t, remedy that, but if you do, you’ll know what I’m getting at: sourness, bitterness, and yet, sweetness in the air as well. The nose here also shows off some wet leather, and something that frankly smelled like beef jerky. Not totally like beef jerky, but yeah, kind of jerkyesque.

There is a strange tongue-drying tannicity to this wine that, oddly enough, seems borne out further by the fact that it is served chilled. However, this goes against basically everything I know about wine (take that for what it’s worth). More overripe fruit, and on the back of the tongue and after you swallow, you are left with a finish that resembles–almost perfectly–the taste of Granny Smith apple skin. Sour, slightly bitter, a little mealy.

Again, this wine is weird. And frankly, I can’t recommend it. But it was an interesting look into what is apparently a commonly-enjoyed (although apparently more often food-paired) wine from a specific region of the world. Fun, but not something I’m likely to enjoy again unless I’m sitting in a cafe in Porto.

Verdict: C

NV Casal Garcia Vinho Verde Tinto

NV Casal Garcia Vinho Verde Tinto