Silk and Spice Red Blend 2018
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This easy drinking red wine is a modern expression of the spices discovered on the 'Spice Route' by Portuguese explorers in 1498. These explores opened up the Western world to exciting new flavors such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. The wine has extraordinary, rich flavors born of Portugal’s indigenous grapes and unique terrain. Silk & Spice has recieved 90+ points from the Wine Enthusiast for 4 years in a row!
Intense, deep ruby color, with a bright red rim. The predominant flavors are ripe, cooked black fruits. Sweet notes of vanilla and hints of mocha. The first impression in the mouth is rich and full. Excellent balance of tannins and acidity, with a long, smooth finish.
Pair with pork chops, beef stew, beef stroganoff, lasagna, and comparable dishes served with tomato-based or barbecue sauces.
Blend: 40% Touriga Nacional, 30% Alicante Bouschet, 30% Baga
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This celebration of Portugal's intrepid explorations in the Far East is a ripe, smooth, lightly toasty wine. Its texture is soft, open with black-currant fruits, spice and fine finishing acidity. Best Buy
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First launched in 2016, Silk & Spice pays homage to the sense of adventure, knowledge, and courage of the Portuguese sailors who,during the Age of Discovery, started the silk and spice trade routes from the Far East to the rest of the world.
The wine is expertly blended to capture the silky and spicy aromas and flavors found in Portuguese indigenous grapes, and the fruit forward, contemporary taste has struck a chord with the US consumer. In 2023, the brand created a Portuguese White Blend and two complementary Red Blends: Silk Route and Spice Road.
All three wines were designed to delight wine drinkers with a sense of exploration. This range extension is also a tribute to the art of Portuguese blending, and highlights Portugal’s diversity of varietals and flavors. These are wines meant to be discovered.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.