Field Blend From Portugal

Field blends are terrifically interesting wines. Grapes of different varieties, all growing together, harvested together, and vinified together, present a blend that would be difficult to attain by the usual separately blended methods. 

The 2021 Antonio Madeira Ainda is a red wine from Portugal, the Dao region and its high-quality sub-region Serra da Estrela. It has, according to online reports from Madeira's reps, about 40 different grape varieties in it. I'd like to name them all, but I don't know them. The vineyards reportedly contain some 45 varieties. I would love to know how they determined which five didn't make the cut. 

I do know that about three-quarters of this field blend are red grapes, while a quarter are white. All the grapes were destemmed and cold macerated for about five days. Then, 15 days of spontaneous fermentation and eight months of aging in tanks. The wine is unfined and unfiltered and was treated with low sulfur. Alcohol hits only 12% abv and the retail price is $38.

This wine is tinted a fairly dark purple in the glass. The nose has aromas of red fruit, like plums, currant, and cherries. There is a hint of anise in the sniff, too. The palate is intriguing. There are flavors of black cherry, licorice, and cassis, but with a bit of a rustic edge. I don't know what tree bark tastes like, but something here makes me think of it. And, there is a faint reminder from my childhood: cough syrup. If I make the wine sound bad, I'm sorry. I intend only to accent its unique and fascinating qualities. 

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