The Enthusiast - February 2025
Kicking off February with some well-earned sunshine! But is it the start of Spring or a false dawn? We’re skeptical but hopeful, and strongly recommend a healthy dose of sangfroid with a pinch of mad abandon.
A good bottle of wine also helps and Carlos Lucas, one of our favourite winemakers doesn’t get too lost in existential angst. He prefers to keep things simple and focus on the art and craft of making great wine. This month, we’re going all in with his selections from the Dão and Douro.
As always, wine descriptions below, and if you run out, you can order more from The Cellar.
Don’t forget, you can look up past boxes in The Archive.
Ribeiro Santo Cimento Branco
[grape/vintage] Cerceal-Branco, Encruzado, Malvasia Fina / 2022
[region] Dão
Sometimes the simple path is most effective. This blend of Encruzado, Malvasia-Fina and Cerceal-Branco grapes is grown at altitude in granite soils. The wine is fermented in stainless steel with wild yeasts then matured in an 80-year-old cement tank. It’s expressive and confident and multi-purpose. It’s got a good solid four-on-the-floor beat that fills your mouth with smooth mineraly base layers, a no-nonsense rhythm section of pear and peach, and teasing high notes of orange flower.
Pairs well with shrimp risotto, wild salmon, pad thai, cheesecake with raspberry coulis.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Herédias, Tinto
[grape/vintage] Tinta Amarela, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional/ 2020
[region] Douro
This is one of those wines that does more than what it says on the tin. It might look like a traditional Douro red but it’s more subtle than that. Open it a few minutes before drinking and let it breathe. It will reveal its complexity and reward your patience.
Pairs well with …grilled prime red meats like a juicy picanha or t-bone, or a hearty game stew.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Automático, Tinto
[grape/vintage] Alfrocheiro, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional / 2021
[region] Dão
Hand harvested off 40 year old vines, this low-intervention red is a guitar by the campfire, a good book on a rainy afternoon, or a long meal at a Paris café filled with Gauloise smoke and existentialism – it’s alive and rustic and a little complicated.
Pairs well with a succulant roast meat rubbed in dried herbs, a simple mushroom risotto or some mild cheeses.
Check it out in The Cellar.