Varietals of Portugal and Dulces Latin Bistro Make a Sweet Match for November Program

By Kathy Ward

Tasting Card · Dulces · An old, old story ...

"A revolution has been taking place in the vineyards and cellars of Portugal," declares Jancis Robinson. And she lauds the movement as "nothing short of astonishing." Trust this lady. She holds the title Master of Wine, hosts TV programs on a variety of wine topics and has authored several books, including one on the Best Portuguese Table Wines.

Todd and Bernice Cromwell of Wineworth Importers also are intimately acquainted with the viticulture change in Portugal evolving since the late 1980s. They did a program for the Enological Society a few years ago. Returning for a long-awaited encore, they recently presented a new series of Portuguese wines.

Todd and Bernice first joined the Enological Society in 1975. That was also about the time they first began visiting Portugal simply for pleasure. They soon became enamored of the wines tasted on their travels, and eventually set up an import and distribution shop in Bellevue for, as they note, "discovering unique wines with special appeal and exceptional value."

With more than two decades dedicated to enlightening consumers about Portuguese wines, Todd has been invited to become an honorary member of the Confraria do Vinho do Porto, an exclusive wine education society in Portugal. The honor is extended to individuals who have contributed significantly to the understanding of Port wines. Only a select number of Americans have ever received this distinction.

The charming and talented Bernice is a graphic designer as well. Her work includes wine labels, with a recent creation for Rocha Douro Touriga Nacional. And you've probably often seen her many "Case Talker" signs as you browse through local wine shops.

Making History

We covered a historical perspective of Portugal's wine growing in "The Best from Dão to Monção" in October '97. To briefly reorient you, Dão is in the northern half of Portugal, in the center of the country. All wines on the tasting card are from this region. Government protection of Dão wine dates back to the 12th century. Highly granitic soils sometimes have to be blasted apart for vine planting. But, oh, how that earth catches the sun on south facing slopes!

Regional grapes are Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Alfrocheiro Preto, Tinto Cão and Jaen, which Portuguese Wines magazine notes are "shedding a new and previously unknown light on the Dão." All five varities were represented at this program.

Current history is being made by the star winery on our tasting card. Quinta dos Roques, started in 1990 by business savvy Manuel Oliveira, within a decade was named 1998 Producer of the Year by Portuguese Wines, leading enology magazine in Portugal. Among the key people he gathered for his venture is winemaker Virgilio Loureiro, a born and bred in the Dão enologist. His Roques 1996 Touriga Nacional is listed as one of the 10 best wines of the 20th century by The Quarterly Review of Wines.

Quinta dos Roques has led the revolution in creating a better understanding of Portuguese wines through single varieties. Incidentally, these products are distinguished as beautifully packaged, in heavy bottles like those used for the finest French Burgundies.

• Leading off an all-Portugal program, the entrance wine was a 2000 Quinta dos Roques Encruzado White Collector's Release, which Jancis cites as "one of the best, typically Portuguese whites."
  
  
• The 1997 Quinta do Carneiro Pactus Roriz is 100 percent Tempranillo, the grape famous in Spanish Rioja. Todd notes that this one is "true to the varietal."
  
  
• From the sister winery of Roques in the Gouveia area is 1999 Quinta das Maias Jaen Collector's Reserve.
  
  
• The 1999 Quinta dos Roques Tinto Cão is a complex variety that became nearly extinct in the Dão until a recent move to encourage replanting.
  
  
• A 1999 Quinta dos Roques Alfrocheiro Preto Collector's Release is of a variety that produces wines described as extremely smooth in texture, made "for early drinking by sensualists."
  
  
• Noted as "a complete wine, and the most impressive of the current crop of releases," is the 1999 Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional Collector's Release of the grape Jancis considers an equal of Cabernet Sauvignon.
  
  
• The 1999 Quinta do Roques Special Collector's Release Reserva, from single vineyard select 60-year-old vine grapes, is a blend of all five of the red varietals we'll sample.
  
  
• From a 150-year-old family Port house comes the 1988 Porto Rocha Colheita Tawny. Touriga is the primo winegrape in this traditional blend aged in wood for over a decade. The selection presents the best of both worlds in Port: intense fruit flavors normally associated with Ruby, and the lighter, delicate flavors of a Tawny.

Spice is Nice

Long wealthy in olives and wine, Portugal, with the Vasco da Gama discovery of a maritime route to valuable Far East spices, brought coriander, curry, ginger, paprika, pepper and saffron to Europe. Also introduced from the Orient were rice and tea, coffee and peanuts from Africa, and tomatoes pineapples, peppers, potatoes from the New World. Getting hungry?

Dulces Latin Bistro gratiftifies appetites with Mediterranean and Latin American cuisine. Carlos Kainz and partner, Chef Julie Guerrero, have been in business nearly a decade, choosing the Spanish name for "sweets" for a West Seattle bakery and café.

Relocated in Madrona near 34th and Union since 1995, Dulces now concentrates only on dinner, with candlelight and white linen setting the ambience. A fireside cigar room is far back from the dining area.

Honoring a fine wine list that complements the restaurant's menu in style and price, Wine Spectator bestowed an Award of Excellence on Dulces this year.

Carlos and Julie believe in a cross-cultural marriage of foods. "We often fuse flavors of Spanish, French and Italian dishes as they all have similar ingredients," Carlos explains. "We're very international in our approach." You don't have to serve only Portuguese foods with Portuguese wines, he adds.

Responding to requests for an occasional spicy food bite, paella was on the menu, as well as rosemary roasted lamb — both perfect matches to the bold reds sampled. And the dulce delight of a fig tart with Port was perfect for a grand finale.

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