Asda Portuguese Tinto

Name: ASDA Portuguese Tinto

Colour: Red

Country: Portugal

Region: n/a

Year: NV

Producer: Enoport-DT, Producao de Bebidas, SA.

Grape Varieties: ?

Alcohol: 13%

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Purchase Price: £3.38 (ASDA)

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Notes:

Maker's tasting notes – (ASDA) A full bodied red wine with brambley red fruits and a nice smooth finish.

“A lovely, smooth and fruity red, ripened in the Portuguese sunshine. It's great with spicy food like chilli con carne” Phillippa Carr, Asda's Master of Wine.

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Somnambulist's verdict: OK, let’s be honest, at £3.38 expectations are low. This is basic table wine, the like of which you’d pick up in a Portuguese supermarket for less than a bottle of water. Still, I gave it a full chance, decanting and allowing it to breathe for 30 mins before trying… and it wasn’t dreadful. There’s dark chocolate, a whiff of vanilla and some red fruits in there. These are flavours that can be crafted into intoxicating blends in the hands of a skilled wine-maker. Alas, I think in this case it’s more akin to shovelling everything into a large vat with all the finesse of a greedy schoolkid stuffing random confectionery into a rather acidic paper bag.

There are a lot worse things you can do with £3.38, but I’d suggest making it up to a fiver and going for one of the other superb budget wines available. If you’re going to try it, take Phillippa Carr’s advice and drink it with chilli, or in fact any very strongly spiced food that stands a good chance of masking the flavour…