Bargains are still to be had this week as the Apolónia Wine Fair ends on Sunday
A wine that I had picked up and enjoyed before the wine fair and had been planning to write about is Sátiro (Clandestino), usually priced at €14.95 and reduced by 20% to €11.99. Quite why it was given this name, meaning Satire (Clandestine) in English, is beyond me, but the method of production is a little unusual.
This is an Alentejo red coming from the town of Cuba and made from a blend of Syrah and Alicante Bouschet, fermented and aged initially in claypot and then given further ageing in oak.
The wine is young, from the 2020 vintage, but I always find that claypot reds seem to be ready for drinking earlier than their steel- or oak-aged counterparts.
This wine is a fairly high in alcohol, clocking in at 15%, but it is deceptively smooth, with warm dark fruit notes on the nose and no notes of excessive alcohol.
Full bodied and well-rounded in the mouth, it is already drinking very well and could certainly improve with a few years of bottle-ageing.
I also picked up a bottle of Página Pinot Noir made near Óbidos, to the north of Lisbon. I wrote about the 2019 vintage when tasted in September 2021and was impressed. But I was surprised to see that the producer has already released the 2021 vintage. I was reluctant to buy it, and, upon tasting, my concerns were confirmed. This wine is clearly not ready for drinking and needs at least another year in the bottle but, reduced by 25% from €15.95 to €11.95, it is good value if you can lay some bottles up to age.
And finally, if you are looking to stock up on some affordable good quality Port, what with Christmas just a few months away, you would be pushed to do better in the sub-€30 price range than the LBV from Quinta do Noval. This unfiltered 2016 ticks all the boxes and, reduced by 20% from €22.95 to €17.99, it is great value for money.
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