The Best Red Wine under $20 ... No Surprise - It's Portuguese!

It is axiomatic that the serious wine consumer seeks out real bargains for quality wines.  Anyone with loads of cash can spend huge sums of money and be pretty well-assured that they will end up of with a good quality wine (though it might not actually be to their taste!)  On the other hand, for those of us who are more budget-minded, discovering a bottle of exceptional quality at a very reasonable cost- well, that may be described as the "Holy Grail" of wine-shopping.  What we're talking about here is something known as QPR, or "Quality-to-Price-Ratio", in other words, high quality in proportion to price.

Throughout my wine tasting classes and in this blog, one of my goals has always been to highlight truly fine wines at affordable prices, and we are fortunate to live an era where this is eminently possible.  In Pennsylvania wine stores, there is the "Chairman's Select" designation which features wines of generally high quality at discount prices, courtesy of the purchasing power of the State monopoly, the largest wine buyer in the country.  Many of you have taken advantage of these discounted wines, as have I. One of the drawbacks to these sales is that they are usually once and done, which can be very frustrating to the wine consumer.  For this reason, I often recommend wine shops in New Jersey and Delaware, such as Total Wine and Wineworks, which typically stock replenished supplies of your favorite wines.

Another wine emporium I patronize once or twice year, particularly for Portuguese wines, is Lisbon Wine & Liquors in Newark, NJ, which I've referenced several times in this blog.  And that bring us to the specific topic of this post - the best red wine for under $20, which I am happy to tout after decades of exploring and tasting wines throughout the US and Europe and elsewhere.  Drumroll, please......

ESPORÃO RED RESERVE 2012









 

The bottle sports a minimalist artistic label that belies the astounding quality and distinctive traits which make this wine so special.  I've written previously about wines from Esporao and the fine wines of all types that it produces in the Alentejo and Douro regions of Portugal.  I've always enjoyed the full-bodied expressiveness of both their whites and reds, which capture the essence of the indigenous grapes and the particular terroir from which the wines emanate.

Upon a recent tasting, I was so struck by the powerful, intoxicating aromas of blackberry and forest floor,  the luscious dark red fruit flavors, the well-balanced interplay of silky, yet firm tannins, lively acidity and plush mouthfeel that I deemed it worthy of a full blog post on its own in order to alert my readers to such an exceptional wine at a very high QPR.

Below you will find the technical specifications as detailed by the winemaker:

ESPORÃO RED RESERVE 2012 - 
Philosophy: The first wine made by Esporão in 1985. Made from estate grown grapes, shows the consistency and the rich, ripe fruit characters which are typical of the best Alentejo red wines. 

Harvest Year: The low winter rainfall contributed to a smaller than average grape harvest with deeply concentrated high quality wines. 

Viticulture: Soil Type: Clay loam soils with granite and schist mother rock. Average age of vines: 15 years. 

Grapes Varieties: Aragonês (Tempranillo) 40%, Alicante Bouschet 30%,  Trincadeira 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%

Vinification: Each variety hand picked and vinified separately, fermented in open tanks with robotic plunging and temperature control (22-25ºC), membrane pressed, malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. 

Maturation: Matured for 12 months in 70% American oak and 30% French oak barrels. Following bottling, the wine was aged for at least 8 months before market release. 

Chemical Analyses Alcohol: 14,5% Total Acidity: 6,40 g/l pH: 3,55 Reducing Sugar: 2,5 g/l Wine makers: David Baverstock and Luís Patrão. 

Colour: Dense deep red. Aroma: Complex spicy aroma of dark berry fruits, with notes of toasty vanilla. 

Palate: Firm and well structured with dense fruit. Fruit is still youthful, with supporting tannins that will provide ageing potential. 

Ideal Consumption Date: 2015-2021 

Formats Available: 750 ml, 1,5 L, 3 L.

Price points for this and other vintages hover around $18.

The currently available vintage is the 2015. As noted above, these wines may be aged for several years, and you will be well rewarded by stashing it away for at least a few years.

For more information about the Herdade do Esporao, visit their website at 

https://www.esporao.com/en/

Lisbon Wine & Liquors typically carries the latest vintages of Esporao wines, including one of its entry-level wines called Monte Velho, which is a great deal, for both red and white, retailing for about $7 a bottle at the store and available for $10.99 in PA stores at last check.