Meandro Do Vale Meão 2004, Douro
8th September 2007
“Good place, Portugal,” said a colleague recently. “I’m thinking of moving there.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Weather’s OK. Food’s good. So’s the wine.”
That last bit made me perk up. It was over twenty years since I had drunk anything Portuguese, but I could recall the last bottle clearly: an indifferent mass-market rosé. Half-way through it I was struck down by a kidney stone. The pain was shattering. For twenty minutes I writhed on the carpet, yelping like a dog and spewing out rosé-flavoured vomit. Finally an ambulance carted me off to hospital.
I have drunk no rosé since. And until this moment it had not occurred to me to try any other Portuguese wine. I asked my colleague to name a good red.
“Ah. Uh…”
“White?”
“Uh … Ah … Oh for heaven’s sake, I don’t remember the names. But you’ll find they’re generally pretty good.”
I have since heard several such endorsements for Portuguese vinho. It is always the same story: plenty of enthusiasm, zero detail. I resolved to make my own investigations.
The problem is, the chance to do this does not arise very often. There is no great clamour for Portuguese wine (at any rate not yet), so one does have to make an effort to get hold of anything interesting. Meandro do Vale Meão is my first successful attempt.
Meandro is an inky, bluish-purple wine made entirely of native grapes: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Amarela, all previously unknown to me.
I gave it half an hour in a decanter, thinking this would be enough to bring it to life. The first impressions were of a traditional Spanish-style red: corpulent, tannic, over-oaked. My wife muttered something about the taste of chocolate. I gave her a scornful look, though I could see what she was getting at.
But after another three-quarters of an hour the wine was transformed. The oak tastes gave way to a much earthier flavour, with one or two interesting mineral notes. The wine was still hefty – with 14.5% alcohol it could not be otherwise - but it now seemed better balanced, verging upon elegant. The finish, though not especially long, was good.
I paid $24 for this, which seems a trifle steep considering what else can be had for the same money. Some retailers are offering it at discount for $19, and that is more reasonable. In the UK it sells for around £12.
Meandro is Vale Meão’s second wine. The first is called Quinta, and on the strength of this I shall probably try it. That is one thing to be said in Meandro’s favour. Another is that it has vanquished all memories of rosé and kidney stones.
