Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe 2018 Post-Quercus is a Baga that fermented and aged in uncoated amphorae for six months. It comes in at only 11.6% alcohol. As I noted at the beginning of the year, it's not meant to be sweet, fleshy or particularly ripe, but it is light and refreshing, with a delicious and juicy finish. I said earlier that I wanted to see this wine pull together over the summer. It seems like it has done exactly that. Pour it, give it 30 minutes and it's good to go. Aging is not really the point here, which tends to constrain my scoring, but it's worth leaning up this time around. We have no extended track record so far, but fresh Baga does have a habit of being hard to kill. Still, this seems to me to be pretty close to a peak moment.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.
This dark-skinned, Portugese variety creates powerful red wines with great color, structure and finesse and is specially prominent in the Bairrada and Dão regions. Somm Secret—Because of its ample acidity and striking color, Baga also makes a great rosé; much of it from the Bairrada ends up in this style.