The Portuguese Sommelier Association attributes 92 points and a gold medal to our amphora-aged fortified wine made of Trincadeira grapes grown in the Atlantic climate of one of the Western most vineyards of Europe located in the Caparide valley on the Estoril coast, just north west of Lisbon.
The idea is here to test how fortified wines age oxidatively in clay amphorae, compared to wooden barrels. Clay obviously has a much higher oxygen permeability. To compensate this, we have significantly increased the tannin concentration in the fortified wine through a rigorous mechanical extraction via foot stomping before and during fermentation and by leaving it in full contact with skins and stems during the 18 months of post-fermentative maceration in the clay pot. The result is quite stunning, brilliant vivacious aroma profile with cherry, plum, almond eucalyptus, nuts, and without screaming strawberry. We encourage all ambitious cooks in this world to experiment with the flavor profile and texture of this wine. To give you a hint: one gastronomic restaurant just north of Düsseldorf suggests to pair it with mushroom ice-cream.
“Troika da Bica” – that’s Catarina, Lula the dog and Ana still in Catarina’s belly when we were still living in the Bica neighborhood in 2012, still with only a few tourists then, also an allusion to the Troika of EC, ECB and IMF quasi taking over the Portuguese government at that time