TNR: 2001 Jose Maria de Fonseca Periquita Classico

Rich Greenberg · Post by **Rich Greenberg** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:05 pm

I have never had any wine from the Douro region other than port. I was at K&L today, and figured I'd pick up a bottle, and selected this one for no other reason than it was one of the two less expensive options ($19.99.) I generally tend to drink wine with food, and thought I'd ask here if anyone has had this wine, can provide a TN (or approximation), and any recommendations as to food pairing.

If there aren't any takers out there, I'll happily post my thoughts once I open it (which will be after my two-week Atkins "induction" is over....)

Thanks!

Rich

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:24 pm

Rich,

I haven't had this particular wine, but in general Douro wines tend to do better with at least 1 hour in the decanter. This goes for the inexpensive (under $15) ones as well. So if it seems tight at first, give it some time to see if it comes round. and let us know your impression of it when you try it.

Rich Greenberg · Post by **Rich Greenberg** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:10 pm

Thanks, Andy, for the decanting tip. As I mentioned, it'll be at least a couple of weeks, but I'll post back when I do open it. Looking forward to trying a new wine from a new (non-port anyway) region! Hope it goes better than South America has for me so far....

R

Frederick Blais · Post by **Frederick Blais** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:32 pm

I've got this one on several occasions and from different year. First, this wine is not from Douro but from Terras do sado appellation, a zone delimited not far from Lisbon.

This wine is made in the very traditionnal style, very claret like wine. Some will find it light. I'd say its elegant, balanced with well defined structure, sharp acidity, still ripe red berries, small amount of sweet oak and some bitter dry tannins. This wine will age easily for 10 years from the harvest date and will gain in complexity. I did serve a 1995 blind to my tasting group last year and most of them thought of a mature claret like cab from Napa or even a silky C9DP. For my taste, its great value for the bucks but still you need to like the style, which is not easy if you like fruit bombs.