This wine has received stellar reviews over the years, garnering a score of 91 points from Robert Parker several years ago, and being named one of the 100 Best Wines in 2001 by Wine & Spirits magazine.  So why is it still available?  The only answer that I can fathom is that it is Portuguese, and therefore belongs to a class of wines that the marketplace simply does not sufficiently appreciate, even when the wine is excellent, as this one is.

So much about Portuguese wines is so unfamiliar to wine drinkers that your appreciation for this wine might benefit from a bit of context.  Alentejo, the region from which this wine hails, is in southeastern Portugal, less than an hour's drive from the Spanish border. This is a dry, hot region that's particularly important for its cork production; vineyards tend to carry small crops because of the dry climate.  Its wines command, on the average, higher prices than those from most other areas of Portugal.

Although international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah now grow here, native Portuguese varieties predominate.  Quinta do Carmo, which is partially owned by Château Lafite, is situated here.  Equally important, Alentejo is the home base of João Portugal Ramos, who is perhaps the most creative and dynamic winemaker in all of Portugal.  He spent 20 years as a consulting enologist to local cooperatives before building his own winery in 1997.  Marques de Borba is his wine.  Of the numerous wines that he produces, many under his João Portugal Ramos brand, the Marques de Borba wines are his most traditional.

This particular wine is a blend of mainly Trincadeira, Aragónez (Tempranillo) and Castelão, with some Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet.  The grapes are treaded by foot in lagares (the stone troughs that are traditional in the Douro for Port production) for 30 to 45 minutes twice daily until the end of the alcoholic fermentation.  Ramos once told me that he likes this method because it provides a large surface ratio of solids to juice, because the open top prevents heat from collecting in the juice and because the gentle treading pressure assures no destruction of the seeds, and therefore no leaching of bitter tannins into the juice.   The wine subsequently ages for a year in new French oak barrels.

This wine derives a natural complexity of aroma and flavor from its three main grapes: earthiness from Trincadeira, red fruit character from Aragónez and herbal character from Castelão.  When you smell the wine (preferably in a large glass), a deep richness of red and black fruits, smokiness, and mint emerge.  The aroma suggests something of a cross between the deep, lean, lead-pencil and black fruit character of a great Pauillac and the gamey, spicy, complex notes of a Northern Rhône wine.

In your mouth, the wine is full bodied and dry, with very fine, elegant tannins that run all through the wine, giving it a rich velvety texture.  In its fairly subdued fruitiness in the mouth, this is clearly a classically-styled European wine rather than an "international" wine.  The wine's flavor is nevertheless perfectly in balance with its structure, creating a flavorful, powerful but harmonious whole.  This is one of those wines that has me tasting it again and again, with the expectation (fulfilled!) of a new nuance of flavor, texture, concentration or finish each time.

At seven years of age, this wine is just beginning to show secondary character in its slightly sweet tannins and leathery flavor.  It is lovely now, but will undoubtedly remain great for another five to ten years.  Fortunately, you can still find it!

91 Points