First I was really impressed by the size of the events. There have been many in Montreal in the past years and none of this size and quality so far! The amount of unknown product to me has never been so important, shame I did not have the time to taste much :|
I had a great chat with Eric around Conceito and happy to see that if the orange label was not appropriate for me, the other product with similar design had better color balance and more appropriate for the product. Their Douro white is quite enjoyable, the 2 reds are correct but not appealing for early drinking, we'll see where they can go in 1-2 years from now. The VP was quite enjoyable, appart for a slight touch of alcohol on the finish, the fruit purity, floral notes and bitter chocolate tannins coating the palate bring good enjoyement drinking this port. Eric also made me taste a reserve wine from the Alentejo that was very good.
My best Douro wine came from Companhia Das Quinta, their Reserva 2005 was simply excellent! Compota 2005 was also another very good Douro wine that I did not know about. Still in the Douro Alves de Sousa are really making giant leap in their quality improvement and it is no wounder they are collecting so many awards recently while keeping some traditionnal flavour profile within their wines. Carm Grande Escolha 2005 is following the trend signing the best wine I've tasted from them so far, 2005 is really proving to be the best vintage to date for dry wines in the Douro. The weather was excellent and the winemaking tecniques are really improving.
In the Alentejo, Maladinha 2006 is easily getting the best wine I've taste from this region. The 2006 is fresh and pure, they manage to harvest the grapes before the rain and the wood is not too present. They did a top estate wine from a blend of various grape, but it was just too much everything for me, closer to a zinfandel than a Portuguese wine.
The quantity of whites was refreshing! The quality of the whites is quite close, all are fresh and balance which is quite an achievement from this region, though none are really stepping out of the lot as a great one.
The only bad point was a couple of producers being harsh at me when I rate low score on some of their products. They ask me how many star I'd give to their wine. Some that I did rate very low that got internationnal recognition gave me a few slap as I could not regocnize the greatness in their wines :help: . Well, I hope they'll understand that there is no greatness in a 12$ wine, else they would sell it much more
It is a shame that some are still trying to influence the mind of a taster so he can rate their wines higher.Overall Porturgal is really the country to look for when you want quality for your money, the choice is increasing, the quality too and you'll always get more for your money!