Sarah Ahmed ‘The Wine Detective’ has chosen her top 5 Portuguese wines from 2010, click on each wine to find your local stockist, let us know what you think and what food you would match with them…

Afros Vinhão 2009 (Vinho Verde)

Anyone reading these pages knows what a huge fan I am of Vinho Verde, especially its Alvarinhos, however I’ve opted for a red Vinho Verde as my pick of the year. Not just because it’s a terrific wine, but also because it highlights one of Portugal’s key strengths, the affinity of its wines for food. A vivid nose and palate has a chicory edge to its concentrated but sappy cassis and wild berry fruit. Lees ageing buffers the acidity without losing the freshness or minerality. Vinhão can be angular, but this is wonderfully svelte – a sophisticated match for my char-grilled fillet of salt cod, as was Afros sparkling Vinhão with sardinha de escabeche (pictured). (Check out my report here of a visit to this biodynamic estate for more great Vinho Verde/food matches).

Pó de Poeira Tinto 2008 (the Douro)

I love the mineral sluiced quality of the Douro’s 2008 vintage and this, the talented Jorge Moreira’s junior red, is a great example of terroir-driven winemaking at an affordable price point. Silky, so elegant with high definition, mineral-sluiced red and black fruits and a floral lift. Less is more. Just gorgeous.

Wine & Soul Guru 2009 (the Douro)

This Douro white launched with a splash, picking up Best White Wine Award at the International Wine Challenge for the maiden 2004 vintage. And it just gets better and better (see a report of my visit with winemaker Jorge Serôdio Borges here for the background to its increased refinement). Very saline and fresh on nose and palate, its al dente, lees-edged stone fruits animated by a thrust of minerality/acidity. Superb balance and length.

Quinta das Bágeiras Vinho Branco Colheita 1994 (Bairrada)

I selected the 2007 vintage of the Garrafeira, a blend of Maria Gomes/Bical, for My 50 Great Portuguese Wines, which choice was affirmed this year when Dirk Niepoort produced a bottle of the 94 Colheita at a tasting. As I said of the 2007, Bairrada’s “best whites are built like Paula Radcliffe – lean and mean, at least in their youth” and with, I quote from my notes ”UNBELIEVABLE FRESHNESS,” the 94 still has plenty of gas in the tank. An oilskin/fresh pine needles nose grabs the attention from the off and, with it’s visceral charge of pithy, limey acidity, it just keeps going and going. Worked briliantly with oysters.

Filipa Pato Lokal Silex 2008 (Beiras)

This wine, this vintage has the double distinction (I like to think!) of making the cut for My 50 Great Portuguese Wines and My Top Five Portuguese Wines of 2010. Puts me in mind of a really sexy Loire Cabernet Franc. Deep crimson with a bright pink rim and a gorgeous floral nose with rock rose and violets, which unfurl on the palate. A lipsmacking palate shows well-defined, bright and juicy red and black cherry and currant fruit supported by silky tannins. A beautiful, heady, yet finely honed wine from the talented Filipa Pato.

Hurry down to Waitrose and grab a bottle (or two) of Pena de Pato Dao 2008 for £5.99, offer ends on 5th April 2011.

To order online click here.

Congratulations to Ian Skelton who is this month’s T-shirt competition winner, 6 bottles of Portuguese wine will be on their way to you! Ian took his Wines of Portugal t-shirt to Tasmania and won 6 bottles of Portuguese wines, think you can do better?…

If you would like to take part in next month’s T-shirt competition, contact Sarah at viniportugal@jkmarketing.co.uk to request a Wines of Portugal T-shirt, and then take a picture wearing it in the most unusual place you can think of!

The winner will receive 6 bottles of Portuguese wine and will be announced at the end of each month, the winning picture will also feature in the following monthly newsletter.

Until the end of April, online merchant Nick Dobson Wines is offering a special discount for readers of the Viniportugal newsletter. They are offering a couple of discounted cases of superb Portuguese wines – full details of these can be seen on their website here -and the offer includes free delivery to UK mainland addresses!

To take advantage of these discounts, enter the offer code VPOFFERAPRIL11 in the coupon code box during the checkout process.

Online UK wine retailer Naked Wines, whose wines are funded and selected by customers, has invested in five new Portuguese wines.

Naked Wines’ customer buying team, otherwise known as ‘Archangels’, discovered the wines on a recent buying trip to Portugal, hosted by trade body ViniPortugal at Porto’s old Stock Exchange.

Nathan McLennan, an Archangel who’s supported the company since it launched in December 2008, said: “As a customer, to be asked to join a buying trip is a fascinating and empowering experience. When said buying trip is to several vineyards in Portugal that experience also becomes hugely enjoyable as well!

Sitting in the old stock exchange in Porto with a huge array of wines in front of you, knowing that you (or more precisely your tastebuds) will have an influence on not only several thousand peoples evenings AND the bottom-line of a company, but more importantly the livelihood of a small, independent winemaker could be intimidating if it wasn’t so much fun.

This is where I first tasted Antonio Ventura’s wines. On a day of so many excellent wines, Antonio’s stood out. Fruity, well-balanced and something a bit different from your normal Aussie Shiraz or French Cab Sav.”

A spokesperson for ViniPortugal added:

“It’s great to get producers and customers together to share their passion for wine. The process of exporting a wine to the UK can typically take months, but by introducing both ends of the chain, and empowering the consumer to choose, the process is a lot quicker. We’re delighted to see new Portuguese wines for sale on Naked Wines, and we hope their customer buying team will be back to select more!”

The buying team, who tasted their way through hundreds of wines looking for UK representation, unanimously selected the following five from Antonio: Montaria 2010, Montaria Reserva 2009, Casas Brancas 2009, Casas Brancas Reserva 2008 and Rio Real D.O.C. Duoro 2009 (available at www.nakedwines.com from the start of April).

The Fareham Wine Cellar in Fareham is offering ViniPortugal consumers a special 10% discount on the following Niepoort Wines until the end of April, or until stocks last.

Niepoort Vertente Tinto, Douro 2008 was £16.75, special offer price £15.00 per bottle

Niepoort Tiara Branco, Douro DOC 2007 was £18.75, special offer price £16.85 per bottle

Offer available in store. Telephone / Internet customers to quote “VINIPORT” when ordering.

Sandra Tavares da Silva and husband Jorge Serodio Borges embarked on Wine & Soul in 2001, their own project in Portugal’s Pinhão Valley.

Sandra is winemaker at both Vale Dona Maria with Cristiano Van Zellar and her family home, Quinta de Chocapalha in Estremadura. Jorge, formerly winemaker at Niepoort, works on a number of new projects in the Douro as well as Quinta do Passadouro.

They initially bought a wonderful, old port lodge and rebuilt the lagares (stone troughs for foot treading and fermentation). In the beginning they purchased fruit from selected sites in the Pinhão Valley until in 2003 they bought a spectacular vineyard, planted with ancient, 76-year-old vines, across thirty varieties.

Of all the wines you make, which is your favourite?
“Pintas Douro Red”

3 words to describe this favourite wine?
“Elegant, fresh and complexity”

What international food would you match with it?
“Pintas matches very well with cheeses, pastas and rich meat dishes, try roast duck with green herbs and a light dose of plum sauce.”

What do you do when you’re not making wine?
“Spoiling my 3 sons”

If you want to find a bottle of Pintas please click here, let us know what food you matched with it and what you thought.

Till the end of April, online merchant Nick Dobson Wines are offering a special discount for readers of the Viniportugal newsletter and blog. They are offering a couple of discounted cases of superb Portuguese wines – full details of these can be seen on their website here -and the offer includes free delivery to UK mainland addresses! To take advantage of these discounts, enter the offer code VPOFFERAPRIL11 in the coupon code box during the checkout process.