Touriga Nacional | Sarah Ahmed - The Wine Detective

Taking coals to Newcastle: Kaesler Touriga Nacional 2007 travels to Oporto

Posted Tuesday 6th December 2011

I’m just back from Oporto and, invited to dinner with a winemaker who loves to blind taste, took the opportunity to “take coals to Newcastle” in the rather tasty form of a bottle of Kaesler’s fortified Touriga Nacional 2007. It’s from the Barossa Valley, South Australia. He immediately recognised it wasn’t a Port. Not because [...]

The Douro: Quintas do Crasto & Portal go single varietal in 2009

Posted Tuesday 24th May 2011

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Neither Quinta do Crasto nor Quinta do Portal release single varietal wines every year. In fact Crasto last released a single varietal Tinta Roriz in 2003! I caught up with Tomás Roquette in the Douro at Niepoort’s Big Day tasting last month and tasted Portal’s wines (pictured) at home last week. What’s the scoop? The 2009 vintage seems [...]

Sijnn-ful in a good way – a bit of Portugal in South Africa!

Posted Thursday 29th July 2010

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This week’s wide-ranging South African ”Taste the Earth” tasting threw up an unexpected and exciting find in the form of Malagas Wine Company Sijnn 2007. I’d not come across the label before and frankly, I’m not sure I’ve tasted a wine from Swellendam either, which is located inland, to the east of Robertson in the Breede River Valley. But what I [...]

Won-Dão-ful – Quinta da Falorca, Dão reds

Posted Wednesday 24th February 2010

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Just posted a regional report (here) with notes from a great tasting, trotting through a range of Quinta da Falorca Dão reds, including some mini-verticals. I’ve not visited them, but their wines were a stand out at a generic Dão tasting I attended last year in July on my 50 Great Portuguese Wines’ quest (reported [...]

The X factor, including the new Y-front…quintessential Aussie quaffing

Posted Saturday 19th December 2009

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Presented my final tasting of the year last night. A couple of the wines, Innocent Bystander Moscato (pictured) and St Hallett Gamekeeper’s Reserve 2008, prompted this post. The Gamekeeper’s Reserve, a winsome blend of Shiraz Grenache Touriga Nacional, is well nigh perfect for someone who loves Aussie and Portuguese wines like yours truly! As winemaker [...]