This wine was served at Vinmonopolet’s tasting this week. Herdade do Rocim is known as one of the leading producers of vinho de talha, clay-aged wine, in Alentejo, Portugal. They also host a festival for clay-based wines.
Here I chose the red version. Fresh from Amphora 2022 comes in a 1L bottle and is part of the Nat’Cool concept of easy drinking wines initiated by Niepoort.
The grape varieties are moreto 40%, and the rest tinta grossa and trincadeira. The ancestral method of making the wine in talha (large clay pots) is used. Vinification is carried out with no temperature control. Fermentation took place using indigenous yeasts and with no addition or correction. The must saw two months of skin contact inside the amphora.
Fresh from Amphora 2022 (Herdade do Rocim)
Light ruby colour. Aroma of cherry and strawberry, stonefruit, with an earthy note. Juicy in the mouth, fresh, with fine tannins, a touch of salt. Overall it’s light, clean and harmonious.
I have participated in a tasting with some of Vinmonopolet’s suppliers, organized by the Norwegian state monopoly. The relatively new importer Swirl has a portfolio that focuses on Portugal. Øystein Solvang presented a veritable wave of individual vignerons from various corners of the country, all of whom demonstrated high quality and a large degree of sustainable production. Here I can only name a few. Among those I already have a close relationship with, and which you can read more about on the blog, were Aphros (Minho), Espera and Marinho (both Lisboa), Vitor Claro (Lisboa and Alentejo), Cebolal (Setúbal/Alentejo) and Muxagat (Douro).
Øystein Solvang, Swirl Wines
Among those who were new to me are Tabodella and Hugo Pinheiro, both from Penalva do Castelo in Dão, who represented two different approaches. Where Tabodella had a more classic cut, Pinheiro offered a distinctly fruit-driven, unfiltered style.
A strong impression was made by tasting wines from João Tavares de Pina, also from Penalva in Dão, with the following background. Tavares recently lost his house and 85% of his vineyards in the fire that has ravaged the interior of Portugal. He is a sociable and generous guy with many friends, and there is currently a large-scale campaign underway in Portugal and partly abroad for him to be able to replant the vineyards. João says that the best you and I can do to help is to buy his wines. I have myself bought a couple of cases recently.
Here I tasted a wonderfully developed wine, Terras de Tavares 2002, with a brick-red color, aromas of dried fruit, well-hung meat, prunes and a hint of smoke. This evoked memories of an evening at the home of João and his wife Luisa, with a fire on the fireplace in the cold winter, when we ate delicious food prepared by João himself and also had a similar wine (Terras de Tavares 1997, read about it here).
I said hello to 2 x Ole Martin. It was the first time I had met Ole Martin Alfsen, who is known in several disciplines of gastronomy and wine. -Now it’s mostly wine, he says. He has developed his own portfolio of wine made in collaboration with producers in several countries, often abbreviated to his initials OMA. He always hits the mark with quality at reasonable prices. The wine name XinOma probably says it all; it is made by him on the grape xinomavro. Ole Martin also tells how he works in collaboration with producer Oenops. This grape often produces light coloured wines. The wine is light, but also has a nice concentration, with good primary fruit and an aroma of flowers and herbs.
Ole Martin Alfsen
We also tasted a rosé version of the same wine, a pét-nat and a blaufränkisch made in collaboration with Heinrich in Gols, Austria. Ole Martin also talked about his collaboration with Loimer in Austria, Quintas de Melgaço in Portugal, Giovanni Rosso in Italy and Au Bon Climat in the USA. Finally, we tasted a pinot noir, in which Ole Martin had collaborated with Broc Cellars in Santa Bárbara, California. It’s a fruity, mellow wine. It has a touch of oak, but Ole Martin Alfsen knows better than anyone that such wines also have a place on the table.
Ole Martin Brodvall, Vinarius
At importer Vinarius, Ole Martin Brodvall served wines from the prominent Fitapreta, where António Maçanita is the winemaker. First we tasted a phenomenal white wine from typical Alentejo and Portuguese grapes, mostly arinto. Palpite 2022 had a clean and beautiful fruit with hints of apricot and orange peel and good body, together with a significant acidity. Fitapreta Tinto 2022 was a relatively light and luscious wine with aromas of red berries with balsamic hints, from a typical Alentejo blend. Tinta Carvalha 2022 was also light in colour. Red berries, cherries and a hint of anise and other spices, good length. A good ambassador for the region..
I also met Henriette Batt, who has worked for importer Engelstad for many years. One of the producers she presented was Herdade do Rocim, which is known as one of the leading producers of vinho de talha, clay-aged wine, in Alentejo, Portugal. They also host a festival for clay-based wines. Fresh from Amphora 2023, which came in a 1L bottle, was a textured white. Discreet aroma, but with a mineral and spicy character, with a great and fruity middle part and a salty finish. The red in the 22 vintage has 40% moreto and has a fine touch of cherry and stone fruit, clean and lovely.
Henriette Batt, Engelstad
I was running out of time, so I indulged myself with just a few highlights from several importers. John Sonnichsen (VinJohn) served wine from his colleague Autentico. I tried MA Doña Blanca 2022 from producer Mufatto, who is Argentinian but operates in Bierzo, Spain. There doña blanca finds itself in the shadow of godello. But it stands out: Light in colour, rich with almonds, a bit of spice, good lees character, well-integrated barrel. A great wine, good for medium-term storage.
John Sonnichsen
It is always a pleasure to try wines from the Spanish producer Envínate. Ove Kvalheim at Unico had brought the white Benje 2023 from Tenerife, that is made of palomino fino and has been under a thin layer of flor, but without skin contact: Light in colour, rich, ripe citrus, nuts, fine texture. Superb. Lousas Viñas de Aldea 2022: Bright red, great berry fruit, with some pepper, a cool touch, nice concentration. I also tasted António Madeira‘s red Vinhas Velhas 2021, an elegant wine from a relatively cool vintage and two wines from Areanna Occhipinti. The normal SP68 in the 23 vintage lived up to the usual standard. Siccagno Nero d’Avola 2021 had a wonderful fruit, with flowers and discreet spice, young tannin, great acidity, juicy and concentrated at the same time and good length.
Alentejo has a more than two thousand years old unbroken tradition for clay-aged wines. The area now experiences a fashion for these wines, and in 2010 a specific DOC was even awarded.
Talha is a large clay container. They come in different sizes and degree of porosity, but they are definitely recognizable. Since they are porous, most are sealed inside. Most common is a form of resin, mixed with other ingredients. The tradition has been kept alive by local restaurants. Now the number of commercial producers that take up the tradition is still increasing.
Here is a short version of how the wines are typically made: The grapes are pressed and transferred to the talha, where a spontaneous natural fermentation takes place. During this period, the grape and skins float to the surface and forms a thick mass. This is pressed down with a piece of wood to extract the color, aroma and taste of the wine. Fermentation is completed, and the mass sinks to the bottom. When the wine runs through a hole at the bottom of the jar, this mass helps to filter, together with straw designed for the purpose.
A toast of talha wine at the traditional producer-restaurant in the village of Cuba
The grapes are picked in September, transported into the wine house, pressed, then transferred to the jars – with or without stem. During fermentation, batonnage is carried out. The mass is pushed down twice a day to extract colour and flavour, but also to prevent it from blocking the opening and the jar exploding. As a rule, the fermentation is completed 8-15 days after the grapes are placed in the jar, so it takes a few weeks for the lid to sink to the bottom. For many, the wine is now finished and the drinking can start. Traditional restaurants usually serve it more or less directly from the “talha”. The modern, commercial wine houses usually leave the wine on the steel tank, some place it, surprisingly maybe, in oak barrels. Traditionists put the wine back on the jars. These are often covered with lid of wood, clay, cardboard or anything. A more effective protection against oxidation is olive oil, which is poured into the jar.
The DOC Vinho de Talha was created to preserve tradition. The regulation states, among other things, that the grapes must be cultivated within the 8 subregions of DOC Alentejo, they must be rejected, fermentation must be done in closed containers (talhas) and the wine and grape must remain in the jars until 11th November. One can store the wine longer, but this is the day when official officials come to certify the wine. This is St. Martin’s Day and traditionally the day one drank the wine for the first time that year. Martin from Tours was a soldier for the Romans, but became Christian as an adult and then lived as a monk. In Portugal, the day is primarily associated with celebration of the new wine.
Moreto is the grape variety that stands out as the traditional bearer. But the tendency is that other grape varieties are used, and the wine spends less time in the vessels in contact with the skins.
Talhas at Esporão
Herdade do Esporão is a property that can actually track its borders back to the 13th century. It was purchased by two private individuals in 1973. The first wines came on the market in the 1990s, and almost instantly it was a huge success.
It’s maybe of importance that a large company like Esporão participates in the collective talha experiment that is now taking place in the area, because those who no one else can register and catalogud knowledge and experience. Perhaps they can also help promote the Alentejo region to consumers.
Esporão inserts the jars with beeswax (made after a complicated recipe), to avoid anything evaporating. This certainly gives some taste to the wine, or rather: it reacts with the wine. To avoid oxidation, a layer of olive oil is placed on top of the talha.
Their Vinho de Talha is only sold in the house’s own shop, to keep an image of exclusivity, it is said. The 2014 vintage comes from old, rented vineyards in the cool Portalegre sub-region to the north, high in the São Mamede mountains, with varieties moreto, castelão and trincadeira. The grapes were picked late in the autumn, end of October-beginning November. No SO2 is added and the yeast is completely natural.
The wine makers are David Baverstock and Sandra Alves.
From Esporão’s shop
Vinho de Talha (Amphora Wine) 2014 (Herdade do Esporão)
The wine is relatively light ruby. Aroma of red berries (ripe raspberries) with flowers, some spice and liquorice. Intense fruit on the palate, fresh acidity (typical of northern Alentejo), elegant tannin, and some sweetness at the end.
