Revelations at Pres à Vi
- By Dan Clarke
- Published 07/19/2007
- Features
Dan Clarke
California Wine Press publishes two internet magazines.
www.californiawineandfood.com (CWF) addresses the interests of restaurant and hospitality professionals.
Your kind comments have been much appreciated. Thank you. You may contact us at info@californiawineandfood.com
Regards,
Dan Clarke, Publisher
As a category, Vinho Verde wines are light in alcohol, taste great with food and offer incredible value. What could be wrong with that?
Well, not a thing, actually.
Prolific author and columnist Anthony Dias Blue shared our opinion that the
Quinta de Gomariz was great with the desert or on its own.
A few years ago I experienced these wonderfully crisp white wines on a trip to Lisbon and the Alentejo. Our hosts from the cork industry were happy to expose a group of wine writers to the cuisine and the wines of their country. Other whites were available if we wanted to sample them at a dinner celebrating our arrival. The implication was that these unidentified alternatives were bigger, more serious wines. And that may have been so, but we were having none of it. “Thank you, but we’d just like some more of this stuff—perhaps a lot more,” was the gist of our unanimous response.
Memories of that visit to Portugal linger and from time to time, I’ll pick up a couple of bottles of Vinho Verde to serve with fish or shellfish at my own table in California. I knew that the clean, fresh flavors were something I liked. What I didn’t know was how broad the category is.
That changed at Pres à Vi in San Francisco last week at an event sponsored by the Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes. We learned that these wines come from a specific area in northwest of Portugal (Entre-Douro-e-Minho) whose boundaries are the Minho River on the north, mountain ranges to the east and south and, of course, the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Within, nine sub-regions are defined, in the fashion of French appellations or the American AVA system.
WXPort
While I had heard that, in a seeming paradox, red Vinho Verde wines actually exist, I didn’t realize that they account for a third of the area’s production. However, our experience at the San Francisco tasting was limited to several whites (including a sparkler) and a rosé. Most of the grape varieties would be unknown to Americans.
Our first wine was the non-vintage Gazela from Sogrape Vinhos, SA, which was made from Arinto, Loureiro and Trajadura grapes. At just 9% alcohol, it was clean, basic and just slightly spritzy.
Next we sampled the 2006 Quinta da Aveleda (11.5% alc.), which was made from a grape familiar to fans of Spanish wines, Alvarinho, as well as the more exotic Loureiro et Trajadura. It, too, showed clean flavors and was a little more complex.
A fuller wine was the 2006 Casa de Oleiros from Manuel Nunes da Costa Camizão. This wine felt “rounder” in the mouth. Whether that is a characteristic of Azal, the single variety comprising this bottle, I don’t know.
Another single-variety wine followed, the relatively-robust (13% alc.) 2006 Portal do Fidalgo produced by PROVAM. It was 100% Alvarinho and reminiscent of exemplars of this variety made in Spain.
Our pre-lunch tasting concluded with a lovely Quinta de Gomariz rosé from Manuel Correia de Sá, another product of the 2006 vintage. It was made of 100% Espadeiro grapes and made another appearance when paired with desert later on.
All of the first five wines are distributed nationally in the U.S. While exact prices may vary, the consensus from the Vinho Verde contingent was that our non-vintage opener would be about $6 at retail and that none of the other four would exceed $10.
Black Cod with Wasabi Potato was a great concept.
The setting of our tasting and lunch was Pres a Vi, which is located at one Letterman at the Presidio, former home to the U.S. Sixth Army. Chef Kelly Degala’s menu was brilliant. His food would have shown well with other wines, but the pairings were impeccable with another flight of Vinhos Verdes. These final five wines are not yet available in the United States, but should be priced similarly to the others we sampled if distribution is secured.
Taste Vinho Verde
Seminar & Luncheon
July 10, 2007
Menu
Grilled Chicken Papaya Salad
Sparkling wine “Quinta do Ferro” 2005
Soc. Agro Turismo Quinta do Ferro Unipessoal, LDA
Rock Shrimp and Avocado Lumpia with Wasabi Aioli and Ponzu
“Dona Raquel – Trajadura” 2006 Socin Soc. Imobiliária do Norte, SA
Dayboat Scallop with Thai Green Curry and Stir-fried Greens, Sweet Rice Cakes and Black Soy
“Quinta de Gomariz – Loureiro” 2006 Manuel Silva Correia Sá
Alaskan Black Cod with Wasabi Potato Croquette Sake Butter, Ocean Salad and Tobiko
Alvarinho “Ql – Alvarinho” 2006 Quinta da Lixa Soc. Agricola, LDA
Goat Cheese Bavarian with Figs
Rose “Quinta de Gomariz” 2006 Manuel Silva Correia Sá
Editor’s note: A link to the website of Pres à Vi, as well as links to hundreds of other San Francisco restaurants and lodging options can be found at the Resource Directory of Taste California Travel.
Well, not a thing, actually.
Prolific author and columnist Anthony Dias Blue shared our opinion that the
Quinta de Gomariz was great with the desert or on its own.
A few years ago I experienced these wonderfully crisp white wines on a trip to Lisbon and the Alentejo. Our hosts from the cork industry were happy to expose a group of wine writers to the cuisine and the wines of their country. Other whites were available if we wanted to sample them at a dinner celebrating our arrival. The implication was that these unidentified alternatives were bigger, more serious wines. And that may have been so, but we were having none of it. “Thank you, but we’d just like some more of this stuff—perhaps a lot more,” was the gist of our unanimous response.
Memories of that visit to Portugal linger and from time to time, I’ll pick up a couple of bottles of Vinho Verde to serve with fish or shellfish at my own table in California. I knew that the clean, fresh flavors were something I liked. What I didn’t know was how broad the category is.
That changed at Pres à Vi in San Francisco last week at an event sponsored by the Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes. We learned that these wines come from a specific area in northwest of Portugal (Entre-Douro-e-Minho) whose boundaries are the Minho River on the north, mountain ranges to the east and south and, of course, the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Within, nine sub-regions are defined, in the fashion of French appellations or the American AVA system.
WXPort
While I had heard that, in a seeming paradox, red Vinho Verde wines actually exist, I didn’t realize that they account for a third of the area’s production. However, our experience at the San Francisco tasting was limited to several whites (including a sparkler) and a rosé. Most of the grape varieties would be unknown to Americans.
Our first wine was the non-vintage Gazela from Sogrape Vinhos, SA, which was made from Arinto, Loureiro and Trajadura grapes. At just 9% alcohol, it was clean, basic and just slightly spritzy.
Next we sampled the 2006 Quinta da Aveleda (11.5% alc.), which was made from a grape familiar to fans of Spanish wines, Alvarinho, as well as the more exotic Loureiro et Trajadura. It, too, showed clean flavors and was a little more complex.
A fuller wine was the 2006 Casa de Oleiros from Manuel Nunes da Costa Camizão. This wine felt “rounder” in the mouth. Whether that is a characteristic of Azal, the single variety comprising this bottle, I don’t know.
Another single-variety wine followed, the relatively-robust (13% alc.) 2006 Portal do Fidalgo produced by PROVAM. It was 100% Alvarinho and reminiscent of exemplars of this variety made in Spain.
Our pre-lunch tasting concluded with a lovely Quinta de Gomariz rosé from Manuel Correia de Sá, another product of the 2006 vintage. It was made of 100% Espadeiro grapes and made another appearance when paired with desert later on.
All of the first five wines are distributed nationally in the U.S. While exact prices may vary, the consensus from the Vinho Verde contingent was that our non-vintage opener would be about $6 at retail and that none of the other four would exceed $10.
Black Cod with Wasabi Potato was a great concept.
The setting of our tasting and lunch was Pres a Vi, which is located at one Letterman at the Presidio, former home to the U.S. Sixth Army. Chef Kelly Degala’s menu was brilliant. His food would have shown well with other wines, but the pairings were impeccable with another flight of Vinhos Verdes. These final five wines are not yet available in the United States, but should be priced similarly to the others we sampled if distribution is secured.
Taste Vinho Verde
Seminar & Luncheon
July 10, 2007
Menu
Grilled Chicken Papaya Salad
Sparkling wine “Quinta do Ferro” 2005
Soc. Agro Turismo Quinta do Ferro Unipessoal, LDA
Rock Shrimp and Avocado Lumpia with Wasabi Aioli and Ponzu
“Dona Raquel – Trajadura” 2006 Socin Soc. Imobiliária do Norte, SA
Dayboat Scallop with Thai Green Curry and Stir-fried Greens, Sweet Rice Cakes and Black Soy
“Quinta de Gomariz – Loureiro” 2006 Manuel Silva Correia Sá
Alaskan Black Cod with Wasabi Potato Croquette Sake Butter, Ocean Salad and Tobiko
Alvarinho “Ql – Alvarinho” 2006 Quinta da Lixa Soc. Agricola, LDA
Goat Cheese Bavarian with Figs
Rose “Quinta de Gomariz” 2006 Manuel Silva Correia Sá
Editor’s note: A link to the website of Pres à Vi, as well as links to hundreds of other San Francisco restaurants and lodging options can be found at the Resource Directory of Taste California Travel.