TN: 1980 Caves do Barrocão Reserva (Bairrada, Portugal)

Brown, espresso-like color. Nose of VA nail polish, caramel, Bolo Rei-styled crystallized fruits, wizened figs and something akin to guava jam - quite rich and piercing. Balanced acidity and tannin, still kept vibrant by the Baga, though with a somewhat short finish. Keeps you lightheaded at 11.8% ABV - I poured myself a glass of Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny for dessert.

This is the portrait of yesterday’s Portugal: a table wine from a rustic backwater of the wine world known only for its fortifieds, and, I imagine, somewhat of a ‘vino di contadino’ in its youth - those were the days of back labels recommending that red wines be drunk at room temperature or slightly heated in bain marie (a process which some old-fashioned restaurants still indulged in this century). In its old age, alive although past its peak, this is more interesting than delicious. A piece of history purchased from Garrafeira Nacional at a 50% discount, and my first experience with this once famous Bairrada producer which, as far as I know, has disappeared. A screaming bargain for 9€.

I’d imagine this wine-vintage will never make it to our shores here and so thanks for sharing the cool experience. One of the reasons why I can’t wait to make my way back to Portugal when the air clears.

Awesome note on what sounds like a very interesting wine. Birth year for me so extra intriguing! I only have 2 dry portugal wines from 1980 in the cellar - Alianca Bairrada Reserva (en magnum), and Caves Sao Joao Dao Porta dos Cavaleiros. Not sure what to expect (notes on Caves sound promising) but looking forward to trying them at some point!

Garrafeira Nacional ships worldwide, but I imagine transatlantic shipping costs might be prohibitive! I posted about this campaign on discounted old wines in another thread, but mostly had European consumers in mind (or those who are otherwise capable of storing wine in Europe): Garrafeira Nacional's Black Friday - 50% off in mature wines - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

The Caves Aliança’s owners were relatives of the Caves Barrocão’s - I believe they were brothers in law, although I would have to double check with my Bairradino friends. They are also from roughly the same location - Fogueira, near Sangalhos, land of fantastic suckling pig (‘leitão’). Your wine must be pretty similar to this one, with the advantage of the larger size format. As for the Porta dos Cavaleiros, it must be excellent, as well stored Caves São João wines invariably are (I recently had a wonderful 1979 Frei João out of magnum).

A lot of these Bairrada Caves (literally meaning ‘cellars’) were not actually producers, but rather bottling companies that purchased casks of wine from small producers in the region and bottled it themselves! When that exactly changed I cannot say without studying the matter in greater detail - there is literature on the subject, which I simply haven’t got my hands on yet - but the death blow to a lot of these wine enterprises, as to some of the old co-ops, was the rise of quality oriented producers like Luís Pato, in the case of Bairrada, as Portugal joined the EU, its vineyards were modernized, the regulation of the wine industry changed, winemaking improved and consumers became more demanding. Some of these old school players, like Caves São Domingos, learned to modernize, and quite a few of the co-ops are back with a vengeance making excellent wines at incredibly competitive prices. Others, like Barrocão and the Caves Aliança you mentioned, are now mere bookmarks in History.

Super interesting Tomas! Appreciate the feedback and the education! Looking forward to opening both of these at some point and will be sure to post a note.

I looked around at the sale Tomas had forwarded from Garrafeira Nacional recently, and the cost to ship to the US works out to about $30 per bottle. At the rock bottom prices, might be worth it just to try some of the 50s and 60s bottlings that we will never see again.