The organizational culture of some wine companies reminds us of a certain character of the chefs of cuisine that we like to divide into the following categories: the repentistas and the rationalistas. The repentista is someone who is given a challenge with one or two ingredients and, half a dozen hours later, comes out with a new dish (Vítor Sobral, for example); the rationalist is the one who needs days, weeks or months to present a dish that is supposed to last in time (the case of Miguel Castro e Silva, the chef Portuguese that has recipes registered at the Larousse Gastronomique). Such behaviors do not mean that a chef is better than another, not least because we are facing two senators of Portuguese cuisine. They only reveal ways of being. And we like it. We like the difference.
In the case of wine, there are similarities. There are companies and/or winemakers who understand that launching new wines every year (wines with more disruptive profiles or exploitation of minority grape varieties) is a good strategy to stay on the news radar (António Maçanita, Luís Pato, Soalheiro or Paulo Nunes ) and there are companies that only launch new wines after a long time of tests, studies and reflections. One of these, the one that interests us today, is Esporão.
Esporão is a case study at different levels. This year it celebrates its golden anniversary, and for a long time it has been the Portuguese wine company with the greatest reputation among consumers. This, by itself, would be the basic condition for launching a new wine to be a relatively quick process. But it is not. Fix this. The company from Reguengos started making vintage wines in 2014. In essence, a vintage wine is meant to be consumed shortly after the harvest, but the Esporão team only this year decided to launch a 2019 Roupeiro in the national distribution circuits and a 2020 Moreto (yes, the white one is older).
Of course, those who went to the restaurant on the estate could, for a long time, taste vintage wines and other experiences with rarer varieties, but that was just there. And when we showed our astonishment at the fact that such interesting wines were not on the commercial circuit, we received as a humorous response the slogan from the company: “More. Slowly”. Smarties. They cannot be accused of lack of coherence.
Now, in practical terms, perhaps all of this has to do with the headache involved in listing another brand from a company that already has many references from different regions, perhaps it has to do with the need to understand whether the rebirth of wines of carving is a hot flash (there are still many producers who think like this) or a trend that is here to stay or maybe there was care in feeling how consumers accustomed to the international profile of Esporão wines (almost always worked with new barrels) would receive wines that resort to a historic and rustic technology.
In any case, the strategy of allowing consumers to have access to aged wines with the Esporão seal is welcomed, not least because there is a detail that makes the difference compared to other producers of aged wines: the launch of wines with bottle. In this matter, Esporão scores points because, in addition to having followed all the elementary rules in the making of these wines, it demonstrates that the talha wine was not made just to drink within a 12-month interval, as tradition dictates in the parts of Vidigueira and surroundings . A vintage wine with some time in the bottle gains complexity. And Esporão Roupeiro 2019 is, in fact, a great vintage wine.
Name Esporão Talha White Wine 2019
Producer Spur
Castes Closet
Region Alentejo (Reguengos)
alcohol grade 13.5 percent
Price (euros) 29
Punctuation 95
Author edgardo pacheco
Test results The first proof that the carvings were actually caught is the aroma of honey and resin on the nose, mixed with notes of spices, stone fruits (peach) and dried leaves. In the mouth, it has an enveloping attack, captivating and unctuous, but well balanced due to the acidity and despite the alcohol that is felt (it can deceive the distracted). Beautiful carved white.
Name Esporão Vinho de Talha Red 2020
Producer Spur
Castes Moreto
Region Alentejo (Reguengos)
alcohol grade 13.8 percent
Price (euros) 29
Punctuation 93
Author edgardo pacheco
Test results We have already tasted open and elegant reds from the Moreto variety, as well as well-laden reds that smell of ripe fruit, earth, humid woods and the like, as is the case of this red wine. The palate follows the same path, with certain vegetable notes balancing the whole. Still, a little more freshness wouldn’t go amiss.
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