What do you know about Portuguese wine? Scratch that, what do you know about Portugal? Admittedly, I’m quite ignorant in the Portuguese department. I only saw one travel program on Portugal and it mainly focused on the Azores islands off the mainland: Portugal Azores
Now that’s a bucket list item!

Well, I’ll leave it up to you to do your own Portuguese exploring. I’m not going to get all Rick Steves on your ass. What I will do is let you in on the Portuguese wine exploration I’ve been doing as of late.

It all began when a friend and I went to a Portuguese wine dinner at Cafe Ena some time back. I remember that each of the wines we tasted (which are too many for me to remember – seriously, I couldn’t keep track.) all tasted wonderful. It had that unique ‘terroir’ taste to them. Now, it could also have been the dreamy Mediterranean wine makers pouring and explaining their wines that had me enchanted, but I’d like to think I was mainly judging from my upper lips.

But where could I find more of these wines around town? Well, I’m delighted this line of wines from Portuga have made it across the Atlantic to the local scene. Without hesitation, I tried the white, rose and red. All of them are bang-for-buck Savvy Lush picks, I knew I couldn’t write about just one.

Like a typical tasting, let’s go from light to dark. I’m going to list the grape varietals but I’m not going to attempt to give a pronunciation key. Have you tried to speak Portuguese? It’s a tougher language than you might think. I believe it’s a cross between Spanish and French. (To my ears, it sounds like Barcelona accented Spanish, but only when the tongue is held firmly between the index finger and thumb.)

Portuga Vinho Branco (aka Vinho Verde)

This is patio wine pure and simple. What do I mean by that? I mean with it’s lower alcohol content, and chilled temperature, you could sip this all day long on the patio. (No one has to know how ripped you are, and it may help you tolerate that yippy neighbor dog.) It’s bright with a slight hint of effervescence. It smells fresh, a bit grassy, a bit citrusy and a bit rounded- an easy pairing with Summer foods. I’ll boldly assert that it pairs well with an asparagus frittata.

Portuga Rosé

I mean c’mon. It’s a rosé. I’ve only met two rosé’s in my life that I balked at, ever. This is not one of them. This is a wonderful blend of Castelão and Camarate. No oak flavor, just easy to drink with crisp minerals dancing around the tart strawberry deliciousness. Drink it alone, or with, well, ANYTHING.

Portuga Red

A blend of Portuguese Castelão, Touriga Franca, Cab & Syrah. Hell yes, this is yummifull! Red berry fun, light vanilla & spice. It’s smooth & medium bodied. Soft tannins but enough to give this wine some heft. If you like Zin, give this a try. Great with BBQ, grilled mushrooms, or what I had, garlic bread (and not even the good homemade stuff, I’m talking the $1.99 Coles garlic bread from the freezer aisle. You know, red packaging with loaves that bake up all buttery, salty & greasy?)

So you see, I’ve literally-ish drank the Portuguese kool-aid and I’m in on its seduction. These wines are right in my wheelhouse: delicious daily drinking on a dime. I hope I’ve persuaded you to give one if not all of the Portuga wines a taste. If I were a true hipster, I might say “Portugal is the new Spain”. However, it might be more fun to say it whilst holding your tongue.