Quinta do Carmo 1996

1996 was a big year for me, the Nintendo 64 was released heralding in a new era of Mariokart shananigans and of course Goldeneye would later be released and be the cause of sleep deprivation for many a night, while we all would scream, 'no you can't be Oddjob, there is less of him to shoot at!' 1996 was also the year that I began to think that maybe girls are more than a source of cooties or whatever it was the boys would exclaim they had that week. I remember the moment well, I was watching The Den (for our non-Irish audience, this was the staple of every child's evening viewing), when the Spice Girls appeared with 'Wannabe'. In hindsight these scantily clad ladies should probably not have appeared on children's television, but nevertheless, something happened that day, regardless of the chant 'girl power' being nothing but shallow commercialism.

However, like it or not these things are history, and shape what we become. This is not to suggest that I will thank the Spice Girls for the decidedly feminist slant in my MA thesis ... Should I? What I am getting at here is that a good wine evolves and develops with age. It is a beautiful process of chemical reactions within the bottle that combines with the accumulated history of the bottle, allowing for a unique and wonderfully subjective experience. This is one of the many things that makes wine an art, something to be appreciated and savour the challenges and complexities within the bottle. More importantly I have also developed with age and only listen to the Spice Girls occasionally.

Colour

A beautiful amber, the elegance of the wine was sublime, with the light bouncing off the rim producing amber hues.

Nose 

Dried cherry, leather,  soil, smoke, clay, cinnamon, cedar everywhere, truffle, thyme, were just a few of my initial notes. As the wine was certainly in its mature phase, I expected the tertiary aromas of truffle, thyme and leather to become more pronounced. I was wrong. After about an hour in the decanter an intense nose of sweet cherry and raspberry emerged.

Palate

The palate was just as complex with truffle and a hint of thyme on the mid palate. As as it opened strawberry compote, some very sweet spice, cracked black pepper. As with the nose the red fruits that later emerged became dominant, I even made a note that it was like I was having some sort of strawberry fueled affair. The wine was not finished with me yet, as it was to offer some more on the finish with a hint of fig.

Comments

Everything about this wine was elegant, from all of the complexities if offered nothing was overbearing and just when you thought you had the wine figured out it decided to change its mood. Wines like these make me fall in love with wine all over again. Alentejo is a region to look out for, as their blends offer something unique, fruit forward in youth developing into something amazing like this as they mature. Anyone who likes Bordeaux, but is fed up shelling out a fortune for them should give Alentejo a try.

Score:

(A+) 97

Price:

(I picked this bottle up for €16 while on holiday in Portugal, a steal. It is also available 2002 vintage in O'Briens for about €22)

Value (out of 5):

5