It's been a
while since my last publicly drunk Portugese red blend. For today’s wine I made
a little imagined detour to Alentejano in sweltering hot centre of Portugal. The
Grou 2005 wine is a red blend made from the autochthonous grape varietals Aragonez
(Tempranillo), Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional and Trincadeira. It was
produced by a local cooperative in Cabecao and aged in French oak for a couple
of months. What else is important to know? Enormously heavy bottle, pretty heavy wine and plenty
of solid matter within. Let’s check this heavy fellow out …
Well, there are only two things to know about the colour of heavy Grou: black as hell and totally opaque.
Haven't had that in a while! The nose was surprisingly fresh, absolutely not bold nor
brute, really fruitful and to a certain extent even a bit little classy and graceful.
Indeed an interessting combination. The actual aromas were dominated by fruitful
scents of black currant, bramble (a bit jam-like), traces of lime, hints of
spearmint and balm as well as a proper portion of beacon’ish smoke. A couple of
hours later the heavy diverse party was joined by some ethereal fragrances (no real alcohol issues from the 14,5%), tart liquorice
and dried moss. I might describe the nose of the Grou as pretty refined, slightly
seductive with a cool temper, maybe a bit crowd pleasing and very Portuguese indeed. On the palate
the Grou appeared rather hard and snappy in the first hour. Plenty of semi smoothened
tannins and quite a lot of sheer acid made it a bit hard to break the ice. Within
hour two to five far more accessible tart, a bit oaky and smoky flavours
evolved. Even some clear aromas of liquorice and a slight impression of not so
dark and stimulatingly sweet black currant flavours showed up. On the next day
there were more and more indications towards a more balance structure. Then, some
more roundness, definitely more smoothness and length were added to the overall picture. Evidentially
a very Portuguese red blend (also evidentially not from the high slopes of the Douro river) with a certain cool character and a hot powerful
heart. I could not help myself but there were a few similarities to a well know cartoon character with the same name. Just like Gru from "Despicable me" this wine was dressed in black, seemed cunning, refined, heavy and big (with very lean invigorating legs), a bit deviously cool and with the right prospects for a mellow and warm-hearted finish to the end! Um, whatever ... you better neglect this last comparison. What is more important: Right now the Grou seems to be a bit too young to enjoy. I should have known that
earlier, but I was simply to grabby. In two to three years this one will be a
very decent piece of Alentejano wine. Right now it is a bit too reserved and
hard to be more than a most definitely decent **** wine!
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