FOOD AND DRINK

Douro: The port makers’ wine

Portugal’s Douro Valley has recently began producing table wines.

Portugal’s Douro Valley “bears close watching,” said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. Port has always been the valley’s specialty, but with port drinkers a fading species, the region recently began shifting its resources—including its distinctive grapes and brilliant minds—to producing table wines. The results are getting better all the time.

2008 Niepoort Douro Redoma ($45). The most reliable Douros are mid-priced. This “graceful, complex” wine was our favorite. “Focused and precise,” it has spicy notes and an “herbal edge” to its aromas.

2009 Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Douro ($20). This “fresh, elegant” wine offers “lingering plummy, mineral flavors.”

2008 Palestra Douro ($9). A great value, this “intriguingly complex” wine is impressively structured, with “straightforward herbal and fruit flavors.”

Oporto