Fantastic QUINTA DO ALQUEVE portuguese fine wines

[vitor]

Hello

I am a portuguese fan of the Quinta do Alqueve Wines. Someone have drink those wines and add the same fantastic experience ?

Some informations about those wines ...

Quinta do Alqueve - Pinhal da Torre

Owned by Paulo de Santurninno Cunha, Quinta do Alqueve, in the Ribetajo region of Portugal has been reviewed by native wine journalists as one of the best young wineries in the country. Approximately 40 miles north of Lisbon, nearly 100 acres of tightly spaced vineyards were planted 20 years ago in the sandy, dry, calcareous soil. In addition to Syrah, Cunha has also planted the traditional grape varieties that originate from the region of Porto, including Touriga Nacional, Periquita and Tinto Roriz, better known as Tempranillo. Yields are severely controlled, crop-thinning is done twice each season and all the fruit is picked by hand and hand-sorted before vinification. The total quantities of wine available from this terrific property will be limited by the low yields the vineyards produce and the careful selection process that is done for these bottlings.

http://www.pinhaldatorre.com


Touriga Nacional 2001
100% Touriga Nacional aged in 100% small, new oak barrels.

Complex nose packed with powerful black currant, smoke and spice notes. Tightly reined in at first, with expanding notes of plum and black raspberry coming through as the wine sits in the glass. Rich and chocolatey on the finish, with richness balanced by firm tannic structure. A large scaled and full bodied wine that should benefit from a few years in the cellar, but is great now with grilled meats and aggressively flavored foods. If you like Howell Mountain Cabernets, you will fall in love with this wine.

Ancestral 2001
A bigger, more structured wine, featuring a predominance of Touriga Nacional complimented by Tinta Roriz and Periquita. Entirely aged in small barrels of which 1/3 were new.
Very dark color. A solid core of plummy fruit in the nose is intertwined with interesting notes of minerals and spice. A bigger, more structured wine than the Tradicional, with more intensely focused flavors that turn smoky and more vibrant on the finish. Chewy tannins backstop the incredible fruit concentration.

Tradicional 2001
A blend of 1/3 each Touriga Nacional, Periquita and Tinto Roriz aged in a combination of small oak barrels and large foudres.
Lots of bright red raspberry fruit on the nose. Vivid ripe currant, cherry and raspberry fruit layer the palate. Uncommon concentration of flavors for a wine in this price range. The finish is intense, with notes of minerals and cocoa powder turning the wine more complex at the end.


- Ed Deitch from NBC in video:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=a ... 0&fg=email

(note: publiciti of 15 segs before)


- JUSTERINI & BROOKS says :

"One of our new finds, Pinhal da Torre, are based in the Ribatejo, exploiting a mixture of the indigenous varieties Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, Tinta Roriz along with international ones such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah to produce Nova Safra (their entry level wine) and the Quinta do Alqueve range - a single estate in a prime part of the Ribatejo region. All winemaking is traditional mixed with modern technology. They manipulate 60 hectares of their own vineyards with a rigorous attention to detail. Everything is hand picked, the wines are 50% foot trodden in stone lagares and the wines undergo a year's ageing in French and American oak barrel - the better the wine the more new oak being used. "

- The only Robert Parker Wine of the Day for portuguese wines. It says "Excellent value."

- Scott Greenberg from Vineguy

"Finally, the 2001 Quinta do Alqueve Syrah ($30) is 100% traditional Syrah. But in the hands of Paulo, this varietal
(aged only in new barrels) sings at this price. The dark purple wine has a beautiful nose of cassis, black pepper and
hints of roasted coffee. This well balanced wine offers flavors of ripe dark cherries and black plums with black pepper on
the long, rich finish. This is a highly extracted wine with firm but not overwhelming tannins. Set me up with a glass (or
two) of this wine and a Florentine steak."

- Tom Hill, from California...

"Black color, beautiful blackberry/boysenberry some toasty/oak rather Calif-style slight earthy/dusty nose; ripe/intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather toasty/vanilla/oaked pretty tannic/extracted/ hard very juicy/ripe flavor; very long/extracted/tannic intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah slight dusty/earthy finish; needs much age; very ripe & structured much like some of the Napa Valley Syrahs but an interesting dusty character to it. Terrific Syrah"

- Best Portuguese Syrah in 2005

- Robert Karcher Selections

"I had always hoped that I would one day return to Portugal. More than 25 years ago I traveled there often to work, and discovered this wonderful country and her wines. It was during my six year stay with an importer of wines from the Iberian Peninsula that offered me this opportunity. At that time, I was working with the wines of Peter Bright. He was making the excellent Cabernet-based wine of Quinta da Bacalhoa near Setubal as well as creating the dry white Muscat from Joao Pires.


A few months ago I was contacted by a man that had studied my history with Portuguese wines. He asked why I had stopped working there . . . why only France? His name is Paulo de Saturninno Cunha and he is the owner of the Quinta do Alqueve in the Ribetajo region, approximately 40 miles north of Lisbon. Paulo explained that his family farm of many generations had been transformed. Nearly 100 acres of tightly spaced vineyards were planted 20 years ago in the sandy, dry calcaire soil.


Paulo decided to use grape varieties that originate from the region of Porto, including Touriga Nacional and Tinto Roriz, which is better known as Tempranillo in Spain. These wines are made very carefully - starting in the vineyards. Yields are severely controlled, crop-thinning is done twice each season, and all the fruit is picked by hand and hand-sorted before vinification.


The Quinta do Alqueve has been reviewed by wine journalists in Portugal as the best young winery in the country. We are very proud to represent this fine estate, and I am personally thrilled to return to Portugal and to be involved with such a progressive undertaking. The total quantities of wine available from this terrific property will be limited by the low yields the vineyards produce and the careful selection process that is done for these bottlings."

I wait for some comments about the taste of those wines :)

Thanks

Vitor