After picking up a haul at the local of wine shop to today, I decided to uncork this one first. Casa de Mouraz is located in the quaint village of Mouraz located in Dao region of Portugal. The Dao region is just South of Porto (where Port wine is stored once it leaves the Douro region). Casa de Mouraz stands on the grounds of the old monastery, St. Pedro de Mouraz. This monastery was built by the Cistarians in the twelvth century and subsequently planted the vines where the winery is now situated. And this is where the Hallmark movie portion of this story begins.
The present owners, Antonio and Sarah, inherited the vineyard that Antonio’s mother had passed down to her. They were employed in London where they were both successful in the art industry. They gave up their careers and moved back to the house Antonio was born in. The story goes that he was born above the winery in the granite house his father built. Since they took over, the couple has worked to convert the winery into an organic and biodynamic (free of chemicals and utilizing natural compost as well as other natural materials) entity.
The tinto wine they produce is a field blend of many indigenous grape varieties (predominatly Touriga-Nacional, Jaen (aka Mencia), Alfrocheiro, and Tinta-Roriz (Tempranillo)). Upon shoving my nose into the glass of medium ruby liquid, I detected anise (black licorice), menthol (reminds me of my grandmother) and a faint note of black currant (I can hear your eye rolls…I only learned to recognize this smell because I planted some in my yard last year specifically for this purpose. I mean, who the heck knows what black currants smell like?!). Then I took a mouthful, swished it around and found a minerality that overtook the flutters of blackberry but the acid and the tannins balanced each other nicely. The alcohol content seemed to get more apparent after I finished the first taste. Then there was the smokey, medium length finish. I think I’ll have another glass to confirm my findings! Cheers!
-TheLooseTannin
A Trip Around the World of Wine in 52 Weeks 