MIPTC #15 - Churchill's Estates Grafite Douro 2019

Aaaaand we're back with another edition of the #MIPTC newsletter! We're already 15 weeks into this, and darn does it go by fast. I must say I have really taken a liking to doing this every Friday, and it's an absolute pleasure to share my thoughts on wine, life and cheap puns with y'all every week.

As some of you in the Northeastern hemisphere now know, Fall is definitely here to stay. In fact, we got our first nightly frost this week in Montreal, and people are slowly moving into winterizing their homes to prepare for the even colder days. This means that warm, cozy wines will definitely be on the agenda, as will the turkey-friendly stuff since Canadian thanksgiving is just around the corner (for all of you Yankees, we celebrate it on October 10th and don't even do a Black Friday to highlight it - thank you very much).

I'm afraid this week's wine is not the ultimate turkey pairing, however. Personally, I like this kind of lean white meat with something quite fruit-forward and almost jammy in order to patch up any potential dryness: think a plump Beaujolais like a Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent, or even better a Spanish Mencia or Garnacha. Still, this would most likely do well in a pinch, but there might be just a tiny bit too much structure and tannins. Your mileage may vary!

Another interesting part about this week's drop: you'll notice it is a Douro wine from Portugal, but the name does suggest an English heritage. This might seem odd, but it really isn't. Here's a little history for y'all.

If you had to name a style of Portugese wine, odds are you'd go straight to Port. This was indeed their first popular wine export, and this is very much thanks to the Brits who just went crazy for the stuff. As you know, the UK doesn't do so well at growing grapes (though there is now a growing production of sparklers that aren't half bad... thanks again, global warming), but its citizens surely love to drink. To resolve this conundrum, Brits traditionally imported wine from France, but the fact that they kept warring with them during the 17th and 18th centuries kind of complicated things, and official boycotts were put in place to avoid throwing money into their enemies' coffers.

Now, back then, Portugal wasn't even on the exporting wine map, and mostly kept its wines for domestic purposes. They also weren't of sufficient quality to travel well. Now, the story goes that the port-making process was invented accidentally by a pair of English brothers who fortified the wine with brandy to try and prevent it from spoiling during the trip back to England. The wine developed a richer nose by picking up oaky aromas and flavors, and the English just went nuts for it. You could therefore say wine exportation in Portugal is as much a British as a Portugese creation, and many major port houses still carry British-sounding names to this day (Taylor, Croft, Graham).

To be clear, this one is not a Port wine, but it was made by Englishman Johnny Graham, who opened Churchill's Estate in 1981. As the name might have tipped you, his family also owned Graham estate until its sale to Symington Group in 1970. This is therefore not your typical foreigner-goes-on-a-gentleman-farmer-trip wine, but really something with deeper roots in the region and terroir. Now let's see how it tastes, shall we?

The Skinny

• From: Douro Valley, Portugal

• Varietals: Touriga nacional 40 %, Tinta roriz 30 %, Touriga francesa 30 %

• Price: $18,45 CAD

• Feature: None

Tasting Notes

On the nose, this is hefty stuff with quite a bit going on. The core is black fruit like black cherries, stewed blueberries and blackberries, but with a fair bit more complexity around it. I get cocoa, forest floor, a hint of cinnamon and toasted notes (indicating new French oak ageing, perhaps?) as well as a faint note of licorice. Now, I'll admit I also wrote "grafite" in my initial notes, but I'm thinking this just might be an undue influence from the label, as it is not a note I often pick up except in young Bordeaux and the likes.

On the palate, this is fleshy and supple in a way that will immediately require quite a bit of attention. The black fruit core is still very present, but you feel more acidity on the palate than you may have thought on the nose. This is fresher than most inexpensive Douros, which is a sign of careful attention by the winemaker. Alcohol can be perceived but without too much bite due to the appropriate tannic structure, and the finish is nothing fancy but still nice and cleanly built around the fruit.

Cutting To The Chase: Does It Please The Cork?

This falls straight into the type of wines I enjoy on a cold Fall night, so I did like it quite a bit. This is nothing fancy or path-breaking, but it remains a great example of the amazing value the casual drinker can get from Portugese wines. I'll also note that this is a great lounge-by-the-fire-pit type of wine as it is fleshy enough to be enjoyed on its own as an after-dinner treat... which I guess does honor its Port heritage!

Cork Score: 3/5* - also a mention for bang for buck.

***

*Here's the lowdown on the scores, by the way. Essentially, I don't believe in 100-point scales for things as subjective as wine. Simply put, I just don't think one can credibly justify a 1% or even a 10% increment between two wines. I therefore choose to go a bit more basic. Here's how I break it down:

• 1/5: Seriously faulty, terrible, undrinkable;

• 2/5: Flawed and/or of bad quality. This is the type of stuff you should probably cook with and not drink;

• 3/5: Decent. This is where most entries will end up. These wines are clean and well-balanced, but not particularly memorable and/or exceptional. They are recommendable, but not an experience per se;

• 4/5: Exceptional. I sadly drink few wines that get this rating, but my purpose is to drink more. This denotes a memorable bottle that brought up some kind of emotion in me. This left a mark, and odds are I am now busy recommending it to everybody I know;

• 5/5: Perfect. I think I have probably tasted less than 5 bottles that would have qualified for a 5/5 in my entire life. This denotes an absolutely incredible wine that will imprint a definite memory for years to come - a true experience in itself.