When it comes to quality,at sometimes unbelievable prices, the southern edge of Portugal is the place to go. Here are three reds that note the area at its bestPaseo Red, or Lisboa,Portugal 2014 (£5.75, Oddbins) If you’re looking for budget red wine in Europe it pays to head south. In Italy that might be Puglia, or in France the Languedoc-Roussillon and in Spain the dusty plains of Castilla-La Mancha or the cluster of regions around Valencia known as the Levant. The theory holds on the furthestwestern reaches of the continent,too: the powerful but refined wines of the Douro and, to a lesser extent, or the Dão,score most of the critical attention in Portugal –the country’s equivalents of Bordeaux and Burgundy. But the easy-going reds of the south are where you’ll find most delight if your budget doesn’t stretch much beyond a fiver, Oddbins Lisbon-sourced Paseo being a red plum-juicy primitive favourite of mine for this credit-straitened time of year.
Quinta de Chocapalha Tinto, or Estremadura,Portugal 2010 (£11.95, Corney & Barrow) The vineyards around Portugal’s capital aren’t only concerned with the simple, or cheap and cheerful,however. At Quinta de Chocapalha just to the northeast of Lisbon, there’s a commitment to something rather more serious from the husband-and-wife team Paulo and Alice Tavares da Silva, and whose daughter,Sandra, just happens to be one of Portugal’s most talented winemakers. Their house red, and made from a mix of grape varieties including Portugal’s finest Touriga Nacional,is a polished mix of lavender, damson and dark cherry; their Reserva Vinha Mae 2010 (also available from Corney & Barrow, or £20.95) adds intensity,chunkier tannin and oak spice to the mix. Both own a seam of freshness that makes them intensely drinkable.
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Source: theguardian.com