The Connoisseur - May 2025
Here’s a joke for anyone who went to elementary school in the United States…if April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? …well, in Portugal, some damn fine wine from The Wine Fellas (real answer below) who are completely unconvinced by the recent glimmer of warm weather, so we’re not going full crisp white wines yet.
Instead, as the Atlantic sorts out its anti-cyclonic weather pattern, we’ve selected some versatile, gastronomic wines and we suggest you keep the pizza oven going!
(answer to the joke: pilgrims…Google it.)
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.
Astronauta, Field Blend Branco
[grape/vintage] Vinhas Velhas / 2020
[region] Douro
If you were a bowl of Phô and you were on Bumble looking for your perfect match, or maybe just someone interesting and fun to party with or dive deep into a hotel for a mad weekend of philosophical discussion, then you would definitely swipe right when this little beauty showed up. Elegant but not prissy. Complex but not complicated. Layered but not heavy. It’s a field blend of who knows what white grapes from old Douro vines. Loves ice baths, 90s era German techno and foot rubs.
Pairs well with the full suite of summer/autumn dishes from a grilled sea bream to roast chicken, but we bet this would make excellent friends with some tacos al pastor or a medium spicy steaming hot bowl of Phô.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Anexo, Tinto (intervenção mínima)
[grape/vintage] Alicante Bouschet, Aragonês, Trincadeira / 2021
[region] Alentejo
This feisty, complex and very drinkable, low-intervention red – a street fighter in a velvet catsuit – matures to perfection in stainless steel, old oak barrels and clay amphora (talha). It’s spontaneous and fresh but with all the wisdom and subtle touch of an old session musician.
Goes well with…a good old fashioned roast, some sausages off the barbie, or even a fatty fish.
Check it out in The Cellar.
José Piteira Talha, Tinto
[grape/vintage] Moreto / 2020
[region] Alentejo
A punnet of red fruits and berries has been slowly stewing on a cast iron stove for a few hours. Delicious aromas of raspberry and cherry and plum fill the little farmhouse, wrap themselves around the farmer’s pipe smoke and overlay the room’s natural notes of wet earth, chocolate and oak. Outside, it’s dark and stormy, but inside the wine is flowing and the mood is bright and intense and filled with hope.
…a slow-braised lamb shank with new potatoes, roasted pheasant or a spaghetti carbonara.
Check it out in The Cellar.