For many value hunters, landing a substantially aged and complex $20 red from an iconic terroir is a lifelong pursuit, which makes today’s special offer similar to the Old Man’s legendary catch in Hemingway’s novel. Except in this scenario, you’re taking home the spoils completely intact! But before we delve into this scintillating red, I'd like to hammer one point home: This shouldn’t be solely limited to those who seek value, but instead to anyone who appreciates fine red wines, of any price, around the world.
Truly, Douro reds bring me immense joy, and when I taste one that performs at such a high level for so little, hyperbole and metaphors are fully justifiable. Having worked in the Douro Valley during my early years and tiptoed along its vertiginous, vine-covered hillsides, this place and their wines hold a dear spot in my heart. And today’s 2016 “Sino da Romaneira,” with its masterful blend of indigenous grapes, five years of neutral barrel and bottle aging, and remarkably low price, has tugged my heartstrings taut. This evolving beauty is one of the great undercover values in red wine, one you can continue enjoying for many more years to come. Where else can you find that for $20?!
Vines have been planted at Romaneira since the mid-1700s and their inaugural vintage of Port wine was 1872, but due to the rigmarole of wine politics, their name wasn’t displayed on a bottle until 1986. Since that time, many other changes have come: Bordeaux and Portuguese expert Christian Seely, along with winemaker António Agrellos, purchased the estate in 2004 and immediately began a massive undertaking that involved re-energizing their old vines and building a brand new, mostly underground winery. Also owners of neighboring Quinta do Noval, another benchmark of the Douro, they are a powerful duo that creates some of the region’s best reds and Ports. Seely strongly believes “that the Douro can also produce great unfortified red wines capable of long aging and capable of taking their place among the great wines of the world”—we’re certainly not arguing with that sentiment!
If you were to take a peaceful cruise along the winding Douro River, there would at some point come a continuous two-mile stretch of vines solely owned by Quinta da Romaneira. Their estate includes some of the largest tracts of land anywhere in the Douro. Like report cards, vineyards in Douro are simply classified from ‘A’ down to ‘F,’ and all 86 hectares that Romaneira owns hold esteemed ‘A’ classifications. In 2016, their range of indigenous grapes (Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Touriga Nacional) were picked in September and, at the cellar, vinification occurred in conical stainless steel vats. The resulting wine was then transferred into neutral French barrels until bottling in June of 2018.
Though Sino da Romaneira is priced like a “second wine” (modeled like Bordeaux, where both Seely and Agrellos have worked extensively), it certainly doesn’t lack the flavor and complexities of a Grand Vin. It pours a dazzling dark ruby that melds into a magenta-pink rim. Right out of the gates, it’s poised with energy and delicious berry fruit like boysenberry, huckleberry, plum pie, cherry liqueur, and wild strawberry that are entwined with baked earth, smoke, dried herbs, clove, wet stone, and cacao. No, this isn’t a meditative, deeply reflective wine à la mature, Classified Growth Bordeaux but there’s plenty of layers and nuanced complexity to be had at $20—really, far more than one could ever hope to expect! Soft, ripe, broad-sweeping layers of brambleberry fruit and hints of liqueur wash over a solid foundation of crushed mineral and spice. But the best part? The overarching freshness and poise in this wine: There’s no palate fatigue, no over-extraction, no excess alcohol—everything is harmoniously balanced. I recommend serving in large Bordeaux stems around 60 degrees and following the attached recipe for feijoada as we embrace these final few brisk weeks.
