Cartuxa 2007 From Evora, Alentejo

The Incredible Red-ible

Cartuxa 2007
Blended Red

Alentejo, Portugal

13.5% alcohol

119 out of 197 cases

$17.99 retail

First impressions: smells woody and dry. No pronounced nose off the top. Tannic in the first swish.

Word from ‘Topher, our co-blogger, today: “Would be great to serve with a heavy meal–like a Brazilian Feijoada.”

The Curious Grape was one of my favorite wine stores in the country. It’s wine tastings were classy events that still allowed you to bring your pooch and chatter with other wine freaks over nibblies ranging from top flight cheeses to amazing chocolates and other surprises. The gourmet food delights were as intriguing as the wines and I always felt like I only needed a light dinner after a tasting there.

As their flagship store was closing a couple of years ago, I thought, let’s get in there for some deals.

Thus Begat Cartuxa 2007.

Featuring possibly the strangest list of red varietals I’ve ever read: Aragonez, Alicante Bouschet, Alfrocheiro and Trincadeira, Cartuxa 2007 is a really interesting, novel, red wine experience.

In honor of the grand opening of this terrific bottle, I made a little meal for ‘Topher. ‘Topher is an middle school teacher working in the inner city with a “thing” for fine wine, tranformative life experiences, and tracking bears. While I don’t have time to go into the latter as much as I’d love to, I think a bit of detail on the former might suit this blogpost…

• After about 20-30 minutes, the wine began to open up. We decanted it, and I think it probably requires that. 
• More fragrance came from the decanted glasses of wine. 
• Nearly burns a bit in the back of the throat, as if it has a heat. Not alcohol, obviously, since it’s a pleasant, old world 13.5%. 
• It’s nicely spicy with some mid-palette heft, which I really love. It has a terrific effect on the senses outside the glass and in your gullet.

…And now a snippet from the evening’s conversation which will give you a sense of both ‘Topher, me and where an entire bottle of Cartuxa 2007 can take you:

“Weed? Oh no. No, I haven’t had weed since that acid-laced stuff at that vegan pot luck in 2007. Oh no, I don’t do weed any more. I’ve never met a more masochistic group of people than those vegans. There is some good vegan cooking, but generally, I think it’s a masochistic endeavor.”

Well, I think he was just kidding. He better have been, as I’ve been such an ardent fan of vegan cooking. Perhaps he was just berating the acetic lifestyle rather than the potluck itself.

At any rate, Cartuxa 2007 is a truly unique bottle of wine with a terrific flavor, ideal for a wintery, heavy meal.

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