Sarah Ahmed, responsible for The Wine Detective website, has travelled to Portugal several times and tasted hundreds of wines… since 2009 she has been selecting and awarding our wines, considering them in her highlights of the best Portuguese wines.
Simplesmente Vinho 2018 – Sarah Ahmed on the 100 highlights of Porto’s alternative wine fair
Portugal’s alternative wine fair continues to go from strength to strength and in 2018 there were 101 producers presenting their wines. Sarah Ahmed highlights her picks from the fair and provides an overview of Simplesmente Vinho 2018. On her website she highlights Monte da Casteleja in the best wines of the Algarve, and Portugal.
The shift to organic cultivation is not the only change since I last tasted with Leroux. Since 2013, he has fermented wines on skins and stems and has started moving the wines to barrel only at the end of the ferment. Otherwise he was finding that the wines were getting a bit dry.
A sample of Monte da Casteleja Branco 2017 – a blend of Arinto and Perrum – spent 10 days on skins before it was pressed and completed the fermentation in old casks, with batonnage for four months. It is spicy and perfumed to nose and palate, with good concentration to its sweet, dried pineapple. A touch of tannin adds interest, phenolic texture and balance. Flavoursome and round. Well done.
Monte da Casteleja Rosé 2017, another sample, is a pale, blush hue. It is perfumed with a sweetness to its fruit (Algarve sweetness) and is round, balanced and textural. Nicely done, it is made from 100% Bastardo.
Monte da Casteleja Red 2015 spent a year in 500l Portuguese and French oak barrels (50:50) and was bottled last November. It is a blend of 60% Bastardo and 40% Alfrocheiro, with a rich, deep, figgy nose and palate and fleshier blueberry bounce. Good tannin structure and perfumed violets on the finish make for a very complete wine. I like the style very much.
Monte da Casteleja nos 50 grandes vinhos portugueses – 2009
Monte da Casteleja – Maria Selection – Red 2007 was selected by English writer Sarah Ahmed and chosen by the Association of Portuguese Wine Importers APWI, to name the 50 best Portuguese wines of 2009.
This selection is made every year by British journalists who know and write about Portuguese wines best. This list highlights the best wines produced in Portugal.
“An attractive floral nose and palate with wild, bright cherry and pomegranate and subtle spice underscored by pithy tannins. Put me in mind of Conceito’s Bastardo from the Douro with its combination of intensity and delicacy.”
Sarah Ahmed
The Wine Detective, Fevereiro 2010