It’s one of Europe’s leading holiday destinations and has Portugal’s highest concentration of hotels and restaurants, but the Algarve is not known for the quality of its wines. Guaranteed hot, dry sunny weather is perfect for tourists, but not necessarily wine. So eyebrows were raised when Sir Cliff Richard planted a vineyard in 1997 at his farm, Quinta do Moinho in Guia, a stone’s throw from the popular tourist resort, Albufeira.
But Sir Cliff was not to be put off. Born Harry Webb, the pop star is no stranger to reinvention. And, though I didn’t appreciate it until I read his biography “My Life, My Way” in preparation for my visit, he has form leading from the front. Back in the 1950s, when he burst onto the nascent UK rock-n roll scene, Sir Cliff was hailed as “Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley.” So perhaps it should be no surprise that his aptly named wines, Vida Nova (new life) and Onda Nova (new wave), made in partnership with the Birch family, are at the vanguard of the Algarve’s emerging quality wine scene.
The secret of success
Earlier this month, I travelled to the Algarve to interview winemaker Max Birch and had a quick word with Sir Cliff just before he celebrated his tenth harvest at an “unplugged” concert. I asked Sir Cliff to what does he attribute the success of his wines? Like the music industry he says the secret is ‘to surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing,’ in this case, Australian winemaker David Baverstock.
Aware that a relaxation of regional wine laws meant that better known international grape varieties could now be planted, Baverstock was convinced that Sir Cliff’s farm, then planted to figs, had the ingredients to make good wine. Though the Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region, is hot and dry, Quinta do Moinho’s vines are refreshed by cool sea breezes, reducing the risk of vines over-stressing, which can halt the ripening process. On the other hand, poor, well-drained white sandy calcareous clay soils limit water and create just enough stress to concentrate the fruit. Baverstock had already forged the reputations of leading Portuguese wineries Quinta do Crasto and Herdade Do Esporão in the Douro and Alentejo, also dry, sunny regions, so Sir Cliff took the plunge, planting warm climate red wine varieties Syrah, Aragonês (Spain’s Tempranillo), Trincadeira and Mourvedre.
Partners in wine
Delighted by the resulting fruit, in 2001, Baverstock then persuaded Max’s parents, long-time Algarve residents, to plant Syrah, Aragonês and Alicante Bouschet at their farm, Quinta do Miradouro, also in Guia. Sir Cliff’s first wines had a special dispensation to be made in the neighbouring Alentejo region at the cutting edge Cortes de Cima’s winery because modern contract winemaking facilities did not exist locally. Now the friends joined forces to build Adega do Cantor, a bespoke, state-of-the-art winery at Quinta do Miradouro, completed in 2003.
By this time, the Birch’s son Max, had graduated in vine growing and winemaking and, having worked a couple of vintages with Baverstock at Esporão, was ready to make the wines in consultation with Baverstock, who remains closely involved. And with the growing success of the project, Max also planted a vineyard at Vale do Sobreiro in 2004 to Syrah and the partners’ first white grape, Portuguese varietiy Verdelho. The next step was to fit out the winery for the production of white and rosé wines and, in 2006, the capacity of the winery doubled to 200,000 litres.
Location, location, location
Though Adega do Cantor has the second biggest production in the Algarve, it remains small by most standards at 150 tons. Max believes that the Algarve will always produce relatively small volumes because not every area is suited to winemaking and those that are (the cooler coastal areas) suffer from development pressure, making land too expensive for cultivation.
That said, the development pressure is a double-edged sword. With its busy beach resorts, the Algarve region’s trump card is tourism and Max believes “it can be a good gateway onto Portuguese wines.’ Though Sir Cliff’s profile undoubtedly helps bring ‘em in (in 2008, 10,000 visitors provided the winery with 50% of its turnover), Max says there are only two other “meaningful” cellar doors capitalising on tourism. Today, he estimates that there are some 20 modern Algarve producers making around 70 different wines and, increasingly, they are working together to raise the profile of the region. Like Adega do Cantor, these producers use international varieties as a hook ‘to get people to drink the wine first’ given that the region is not known for its wines. I’ll be posting another report later in the year with details of a tasting of other Algarve wines, so watch this space to find out how they stack up.
Work in progress
And how are the Adega do Cantor wines? Not one to over-state the case, Max is refreshingly candid about the fact that it is early days for the Algarve when it comes to quality as opposed to bulk wine. He says “the Algarve’s terroir will only emerge over time and, for now, there is the potential to make very good wine, but not fine wine.”
He’s right to be cautious given not just the youth of the vines but also the region’s lack of a scientific approach to viticulture (that is until Sir Cliff brought in viticultural guru Richard Smart). Though Sir Cliff’s older vines, located on poorer soils, have seen a marked increase in fruit concentration in the last couple of years, the Birch family vines planted on more diverse soils remain challenging in terms of consistency. Max is experimenting with different hang-times and irrigation regimes and meeting youthful vine vigor with rigor, for example 60% of the fruit was dropped in 2009 to facilitate full phenolic ripeness of the remaining 40%. Plans are also afoot to plant Portugal’s flagship variety, Touriga Nacional. He summarises “it’s still trial and error but there is no-one in front of us.”
In fact the 2008 vintage, described by Max as “the best yet” has garnered Bronze medals for Vida Nova Rosé 2008 and Onda Nova Verdelho 2008 at the International Wine Challenge in London. José Antonio Salvador, wine correspondent for Portugal’s Visão magazine, has even adjudged Vida Nova Rosé Portugal’s best rosé. This last accolade particularly tickles Sir Cliff who told me that he’s had a soft spot for Mateus Rosé since the sixties when he bought his first house in the Algarve.
For my part, I think the wines are sound rather than spirited, which itself is progress for the Algarve, and I like Max’s approach to winemaking. His focus is on structure and acid, not fruit sweetness and he’s not into wood flavour – a nice point of difference with many wines from the better known neighbouring Alentejo region. So there’s promise and, with greater vine age, I look forward to seeing a little more fruit concentration and better quality tannins.
Vida Nova Branco Verdelho/Arinto 2008 – a very fruity nose with good citrus (grapefruit) drive on the palate. The Arinto is currently bought in, but 2 hectares will be planted at Sir Cliff’s vineyard in February for this blend and, down the track, the plan is to make a single varietal Arinto and a single varietal Verdelho under the Onda Nova label.
Onda Nova Verdelho 2008 – honeyed, tropical melon fruits balanced by (attractively) sour yellow plum and greengage fruit.
Vida Nova Rosé (Syrah/Aragonez) 2008 – clean and crisp with bright cranberry fruit; 6g residual sugar.
Onda Nova Rosé 2007 - quite a big wine at 13.5%, but drier and nicely textured; well made.
Onda Nova Syrah 2007 – 14% – quite reduced; needs to open up but my impression was on the drier side than the 06 from a warmer, jammier vintage. Still searching for the sweet spot.
Onda Nova Aragonez 2007 - quite tight on the nose and palate with raspberry, red fruits and vanilla; a little callow at the moment – the fruit needs to come up a bit.
Vida Nova Reserva 2007 – (85% Syrah, 25% Aragonez) brambly, herb-edged black fruits; quite persistent.
Vida Nova Tinto 2008 (barrel sample) – a woody overlay – unsurprising for a barrel sample, with very juicy, persistent black fruits beneath – promising.
Sarah Ahmed
The Wine Detective
8 August 2009
