Esporão is a producer I’ve liked for a long time, particularly for its Reserva. A few of their newer, more approachable wines have appeared in supermarkets very recently and I’ve been less impressed with those, so I was interested to try Monte Velho Red. It is again aimed at being an accessible, everyday wine, but it is available through more premium retailers.
It comes from Portugal’s Alentejo wine region and was first released in 1992 as a more accessible, everyday expression inspired by Esporão Reserva. The blend changes somewhat with each vintage. There’s lots of information on the back label, although frustratingly not the details of the blend. After a bit of digging, I found that this 2024 vintage is 40% Aragonez, 25% Trincadeira, 25% Touriga Nacional, 5% Alicante Bouschet and 5% Syrah. It comes in at 13.5% ABV.
There’s plenty of cherry at first, with a slight Rioja-like character that becomes even more apparent after it has had some air – cherry , joined by slight leathery and spicy nuances. Aragonez is Tempranillo so that Rioja-like character isn’t entirely surprising. The taste moves towards darker fruit, with liquorice and blackberry. It is medium to full-bodied and nicely rounded, dry, with medium tannins and a little savoury spice.
In some ways it feels like a cross between Rioja and a Portuguese Touriga Nacional-led red, bringing together that familiar Tempranillo aromatic character with the darker, more distinctive taste of Portuguese reds.
The RRP is £12, and for that money this is excellent. It is much better than the newer, ‘accessible’ Esporão wines I’ve come across. It is available from Ocado, The Wine Society (sold out!), Field & Fawcett, Great Grog, Noble Grape, Noble Green and Vino Vero.
