Just when I thought I had tasted the best of red still wines available locally in the Northwest retail distribution, this one lands on my table and impressed the heck out of my palate. This was the second still wine I have tasted lately from a Portugal producer that really made me decide to start tasting everything I can from Portugal. The aromas and flavors of this wine fell into all of these categories and represented each descriptor with weight. Big, smooth, polished and elegant; for a wine to fulfill all of these qualities most would expect their wallet to be lightened up by at least a twenty dollar bill and in most cases even more. Hopefully Vale De Bofim is not a rarity among Portuguese red wines. I guess I will find out soon enough.
This wine consists of 55% Tinta Barroca 22% Tinta Roriz (Old vines) 3% Touriga Nacional and 3% Touriga Franca. This blend represents a style that proves to find fancy among European and American palates alike. In the past I have tried red still wines from Portugal and always finished them up thinking they were OK but still steeped in old world wine making techniques and would move back to the trusted new world, Italian and French wines I could afford and rely upon.
A couple of years ago my eyes were opened to new possibilities when a whole lot of wines from Spain started to show up on retailers’ shelves at reasonable prices and quality levels that seemed to be pretty consistent. They too were often blends of grapes we may not have been familiar with but the percentages of each did sound vaguely familiar. Look forward to reading about a lot more Portuguese wine reviews on this site after I return from Portugal in the fall. Until then take some chances and buy a few Portuguese wines. Sure you cannot go wrong with a nice Port wine but let these non-fortified versions surprise you as much as they have me.
Rating: Excellent (90) | $12 | 14.0% ABV
Find this wine to buy: Vinquire | WineZap.com
This wine sounds delicious, now only if I could find a selection of Portugal wines in my wine stores!!!!
Kelsey, do you live in a state where wine shipments are allowed? If so, buy online! :)
I can’t wait to try this one. Portugal makes great wine.
I think you’ll enjoy it!
Sounds delicious! I’ll give it a try.
:) Try it, you’ll like it…
I haven’t had a lot of Portugal wines – so I’m interested to try this.
Grab a bottle and let us know what you think…
Hi Guys, lots of good wines for great price in Portugal. Quinta do Portal in Douro does great stuff on both still and reds.
Herdade dos Grous in Alentejo also brilliant.
But maybe the greatest surprise on long weekend trip to Lisbon were the fresh and lively whites. Try for example Quinta da Alorna from Ribatejo.
Awesome, Pasi, thanks for the recommendations!
I don’t think I’ve seen Portugal wines in my store but now I’ll have to ask about them. Thanks for the review.
If your wine retailer carries the Ports from Dow there is a pretty good chance they have access to this wine. Seldom do retailers carry everything from one producer so do not be afraid to ask them to bring it in for you.
Apart from being delightful, this wine is a good example of the efforts by Portuguese winemakers to be more creative in their use of local grape varietals. Vale do Bomfim is made for 55% of Tinta Barroca grapes, which in Portugal is traditionally used as a blending varietal for Port wine. South African winemakers have used it for a while to make excellent single-varietal table wines (which they spell Tinta Barocca). People who like this type of wine and would like to explore other Portuguese wines should look for wines with lots of local varietals such as Alicante-Bouchet or Aragonês (aka Tinta Roriz). As to regions of origin, Alentejo wines are likely to give most satisfaction at a given price point.
Awesome suggestions, thanks Ron!