When someone mentions wine and Portugal, the natural
inclination is to think of Porto wines and stop there, possibly, if they’re a
bit more versed in the wine world, with some of the whites originating from
that region also. But for the reds, the mind might more naturally drift to
France or Italy or Spain, perhaps all three, first and maybe solely and with
good reason. It’s true there is not a lot of prominence from Portugal in this
category, but if all the offerings were of a similar nature to this, it would
have more notoriety. As it is, this alone is very worthy and notable, even
compared to the rest of the usual wine-making region hitters.
What we have here is a very nice fruit-forward wine that can
start a bit rough and rocky, but mellows with air time into something quite
smooth and balanced, with just enough hint of astringency to put a little edge
on it and keep it from being over-fruity. Despite the sort of non-Portuguese
sounding name of Gloria Reynolds, the tradition there dates over 200 years. The
blend of several grapes, including Tempranillo, creates a very artisanal wine that is both full-bodied and dense, yet
fantastic for sip after sip.
Generally speaking, this wine runs around $14/bottle, so its
acquisition here is more of an occasional nature. I’ve yet to ever see it on
SPA, so this entry, though very worthy, is another one that comes in at Mixed.
