Today we were in Sintra, about half an hour from Lisbon. Really beautiful, but make sure you have your hiking shoes on if you go there! Or better, have a « tuktuk » drive you around…

The colorful walls of the Palacio da Pena, the former royal summer residence in Sintra

When we made a stop to buy some water in a local grocery shop, I saw a small bottle of Periquita 2015, a wine of Jose Maria da Fonseca, one of Portugal’s big wine producing companies, owning more than 30 brands. Curiosity got the better of me and I bought it to try it in the evening with cured meats and cheeses. The main reason why I was interested in this bottle is because it’s mainly produced of Castelao (next to trincadeira and aragones), and I had a good experience with Rodrigo Filipe’s Humus of Castelao, which you can read about in my previous post. Castelao is known to produce wines with a higher than average acidity, and if you have been following my blog for a while, I suppose you know that I like such wines. The other reason I bought that bottle is that I was also a bit curious what the quality is of such a mass produced wine.

I can be very clear about that : it was better than I expected, and actually a very good price quality ratio! The nose let me believe for a moment that this was going to be a very ripe wine, and rather not my cup of tea, with dried fig, plums, spices, and a hint of tobacco. But the wine was surprisingly fresh, and even quite structured, with sturdy but good tannins. A nice companion also with the cured goat cheese. I paid 4,40€ for the half bottle, so a whole bottle will not make you go bust either.

I’m pleasantly surprised by this Periquita, which was the first red bottled in Portugal (around 1850) according to the winery’s website. And it only strengthens my interest in Castelao. So be warned, there might be more Castelao reviews comings up soon…