Gazela.

The Marketing Queen at TWWIAGE recently gave me a copy of a Japanese magazine to read in which TWWIAGE was featured.  I say read, but there was not one, single word of English in the current issue of What-Wine!? (their punctuation, not mine) magazine.  So I just looked at the pictures.  And very nice pictures they were: it is a beautifully produced publication.  However, something other than photographs of TWWIAGE's vineyards and winemaker caught my eye.
The first time that I tasted Gazela's Vinho Verde, I remember thinking that it was pleasant, but that I had had better.  Well, I have since had to eat my words (or rather, drink them).  I drink Gazela all the time and I can still buy it at my local supermarket for $3.99 (if I buy six bottles at a time, which I do). The photograph that intrigued me in Wine-What!? was that of a Gazela wine called 'Frutos Do Mar' (seafood). Although I did notice the initialism 'DOC' in the write-up of this wine, I gleaned no information from the magazine's text.  So off, onto the internet I went.
Apparently, last year Sogrape, the producer of Gazela and Portugal's largest family owned winery, decided to repackage their Vinho Verde specifically for the Japanese market.  It seems that 'Frutos Do Mar' is the same wine, but packaged to let the Japanese consumer know that the wine is seafood friendly.  Can we say, sushi?  Yes, we can.
I had noticed that Gazela had changed the label this year/batch (remember, it is a non-vintage wine) from the old clear label to a new silver label.  I'm just wondering if  the seafood-friendly-marketing-move will make it to the USA in the future: does America need idiot-friendly labelling?  Actually, I don't care - I'm going to continue to drink Gazela no matter what the packaging looks like.

Fresh and fizzy.

And speaking of Vinho Verde.  I just recently tried, what was for me, a new Vinho Verde.  The Broadbent, NV Vinho Verde (DOC), was a very nice tipple for $5.99 - fresh, bright, lemony-limey with a hint of Golden Delicious apple - I really enjoyed it with grilled salmon.
Eponymously named after Bartholomew Broadbent, son of English wine critic Michael Broadbent, this Vinho Verde is produced from Loureiro, Trajadura and Arinto grapes sourced from contract growers.  I purchased this wine, on sale, in a local supermarket for $5.70 a week ago - I noticed today that it was $6.99.  Is it worth it?  Yes, and no.  I can procure a bottle of Gazela Vinho Verde for $3.99 in a different supermarket and it is actually a slightly better wine, so I'm going to stick with the Gazela, (as every time I drink it I am reminded of how much I like it).  The Broadbent was very nice though.

Cheap and cheerful.

Was this wine cheap?  Yes, at $3.99 this Vinho Verde may just qualify as the cheapest bottle of wine I have purchased this year.  Was it cheerful?  Absolutely, it's lively spritziness definitely put a smile on my face.  Attracted by the colourful label, I was pleasantly surprised by this non-vintage, fun wine.  Nice flavours of lime, green apple and pear, and low alcohol (9%), made this a very quaffable tipple. 
I've always liked Vinho Verde, it says summer to me.  Hailing from northern Portugal, Vinho Verde is not an actual grape variety: rather, this green wine is produced from several different grape varieties, e.g. Arinto, Azal, Loureiro, and Trajadura (amongst others).  Fresh and fruity, this bottle of Gazela was alright, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.  There are just too many other Vinho Verdes out in the world to try.

A butt of Malmsey.

Week 9.  Portugal.  Number of wines, 23.  I'm not only tasting the wines of the mainland tonight, but also wines from the island of Madeira.
The evening started off with two very recognisable wines from producers Mateus and Lancers who happen to make more wine each year than all the other wine producers of Portugal combined. Next, a tour of white and red table wines revealed passable tipples that were quite fruity with low alcohol levels.
Unlike George Plantagenet, the 1st Duke of Clarence, who is said to have drowned in a butt (477.3 litres) of Malmsey, I was in no danger from the flight of Madeiras - with just a once ounce pour of each.  Considering how pleasant the 'aged 10 years' Malmsey proved to be, I must say that I can almost see the merit in choosing this way to meet ones (wine)maker, perhaps.
However, I really rather enjoyed the flight of Vinho do Porto (or just plain port to the English speaking world), especially a Porto Rocha, 2003, Vintage offering.  At 20% alcohol by volume one couldn't consume a lot of these ports, unlike the 9% alcohol by volume Vinho Verdes poured earlier in the evening.  But the wines of Oporto left me in no doubt as to why the English made such an effort, when faced with the scarcity of French wine imports into England, to go in search of wines elsewhere - and found the wines of the Douro. Clever lads!
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