For three centuries the great port wine houses which stand along the Douro River in northern Portugal  have shipped vintage port across the English-speaking world.   The region has always produced table wine as well from the same grapes — but these wines stayed at home.  This has changed — we can now find very good red wine from the Douro.

Churchill’s is best known as an upstart port wine house (a mere 30 years old) which produces a respected line of ports.   Churchill’s Estates– a table wine — is a blend of classic port wine varietals: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz.  (The last we know as Tempranillo.)  The grapes grow in the summer heat on terraces.  The dry soil, schist and slate, forces the vines to reach deep into the earth for moisture.

The wine is an imperial shade of purple.  The taste is fleshy and rich.  This is a dinner wine for people who like port.  It is full-bodied and dense.  It is not sugary — the yeast has done its work–but it is very good-natured.  This is a wine made for Silenus, the river god: unrestrained and lounging to this day among the steep hills of the Douro.

$14.75/Bottle

Tuta 12/6/09