Continuing our mission to highlight every wine that will be tasted during The Big Tasting with Oz Clark on April 12th, we’ve now moved on to the 4th wine: Vida Nova Syrah / Aragónez 2007 Algarve, Portugal.

Known as the “the tourist destination” of Portugal, the Algarve is located in the sunny and beach laden south occupying 5,412 square kilometers. And though wine only takes up a small percentage of their exports,  producing much less than its fish, seafood, orange, carob bean, fig and almond production, it has become a hotspot for high end gastronomical delights.

Historically, wine took a greater precedence, but tourism has been the bane of its existence; substituting hotels, golf courses and shopping malls for large swaths of lush, green vineyards. In the last couple of years, investments have been made to revitalise the wine sector, but very few wineries have come out as true champions, such as Vida Nova.

Vida Nova, the Cliff Richard wine, is situated in Guia, a few kilometres northwest of Albufeira in the middle of the Algarve. The winey is situated at the top of Quinta do Miradouro and was built to produce high quality wine from three surrounding Quintas: Quinta do Moinho, Quinta do Miradouro and Vale do Sobreiro.

The wine is spicy and intense and goes superbly with Iberian pork fillets grilled with salt and lemon.

Another option is to go off the beaten path and pair this wine with octopus, a traditional and very appreciated ingredient in the Algarve. Although we traditionally might not suggest seafood with red wine, the tomato risotto may have enough richness to compliment it.

This receipe was taken from the “The Algarve Buzz“:

Risotto de Polvo

Source: Adapted from – Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa
Serves 2 generously, and can be doubled easily

• 1k polvo – cleaned
• ½ med. sized onion, whole
• 3/4 cup risotto rice
• ½ med sized onion, finely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves- finely chopped
• 1/2 can diced tomatoes (or use fresh)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2tbsp tomato paste
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1tsp paprika
• pinch pepper
• 4 tbsp cilantro
• pinch of sugar
• ½ cup white wine
• fish stock, reserved from octopus
• boiling water

Prepare Octopus
Place octopus in med size pot halfway full of boiling water (aprox. 4 cups water), add ½ whole onion, and let boil for 10min, on medium high heat.

Drain octopus and reserve onion

Fill pot half full again and let come to boil place octopus back in with onion and cook for another 25 min. Until fork pierces tentacles easily.

When cooked, separate octopus from stock, place octopus on plate to cool and reserve stock. You can discard the onion.

When Octopus has cooled, chop into small chunks. Set aside.

*Note. Octopus is a bit slippery when raw but will firm up nicely once cooked. It will be rubbery when cooked for only a few minutes, it needs to cook until tender about 30min. It may also have a thin purplish skin, most of it will come off during the first blanching, any remain bits are fine and don’t need to be removed unless you prefer.

Prepare Risotto
In a sauté pan, add olive oil and garlic, let oil cook for a couple of minutes to infuse with garlic, then add chopped onion and cook until onions are transparent.

Add diced tomatoes in juice, tomato paste, bay leaf, a ½ cilantro, pepper, paprika and let tomatoes cook into sauce for about 10-15 minutes on medium heat.

Add pinch of sugar, this helps round out the acidity on the tomatoes, blend well into the sauce.

Add rice and coat well with sauce, then add half of the stock and gently stir. Keep hot water close by to add when rice begins to dry. Make sure to taste sauce with each small addition of water, you can substitute stock for water if you prefer a stronger seafood flavour.

Follow package directions for rice and add water as needed unit rice start to become tender, keep stirring to ensure creaminess of rice.

Just as rice becomes slightly tender, add chopped octopus, mix well, then add white wine, mix well again. Taste for salt. Octopus stock may already have enough salt so taste before adding more.

Risotto is best served immediately, sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve.

*Note. For a less fishy flavour you can substitute the octopus stock for a knorr seafood stock cube. Melt cube in 1 cup hot water and substitute for octopus stock.

Continuing our mission to highlight every wine that will be tasted during The Big Tasting with Oz Clark on April 12th, we’ve now moved on to the 3rd wine: Quinta de la Rosa Reserva 2008.

The Quinta de la Rosa vineyard is located in beautiful terraced vineyards carved by the winding Douro River. The region itself contains primarily schist soils and is surrounded by the Marão and Montemuro mountain ranges. Consequently, despite the 250,000 hectares in the Douro, only 40,000 of it has been dedicated to culturing vines. Working the vines is primarily done by hand as the combination of slippery and sharp soils in conjunction with incredibly steep terrain makes vine growing in the area more of an extreme sport than a romantic vocation.

The winery is run by the father and daughter team, Tim and Sophia Bergquist, along with the support of Sophia’s brother, Phillip. The winery was originally given to Sophia’s grandmother as a christening present over 100 years ago.

Sophia Bergquist describes this wine as big, juicy and surprisingly good. She recommends steak, stews, meats, cheese, and even chicken to go with this wine.

We thought a good recipe might be: Costelas Vinho d’alhos (Wine and Garlic Marinated Pork Ribs)

6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon coarse salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon molho picante (hot chili sauce)
1 cup wine
5 pounds meaty pork ribs

1. In a large non-reactive ceramic, glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the garlic, salt, lemon juice, chili sauce, and wine.
2. If you have the ribs in a rack, separate them by cutting between the ribs to separate them. Place all the ribs in the bowl, turning them in the marinade to coat thoroughly. You can double the marinade recipe if needed.
3. Marinate the ribs 24 to 36 hours. Grill over medium hot coals or wood fire , turning as needed, cooking until the meat is nearly falling off the bone.

Variation: You can also toss them in a roasting pan, marinade and all, braise the ribs in the oven for 1 hour at 350 degree F. and then transfer them to the grill for the finishing touch.

What kinds of foods or music would you pair with this wine?

Share your thoughts on the wine!