Oscar Quevedo at Zucca
Zucca Ristorante, LA, CA
Tasted June 29, 2010 by WetRock with 495 views
Introduction
Oscar Quevedo made rounds in the USA getting the word out about his family's wines. We were lucky enough to enjoy dinner with him at Zucca in Los Angeles on his trip through California. He even bottled up some of the '75 Colheita from their last barrel just for this trip. All of their wines show tremendous quality to me covering dry and fortified and this would include a couple others some of us got to try the next day. I was very surprised by the strong acidity of the red table wine and I really thought the fortified wines showed great balance without pouring on the sweetness.
Flight 1 - Antipasti (2 notes)
Butter poached lobster, pink lady apples, butter lettuce, blueberry reduction
Red
2007 Quinta do Crasto Douro Crasto
Portugal, Douro
Nose shows ripe roasted fruits with some earthy complexity and hints of violets. Bright on the palate with broad earthy richness in front of strong tartness and mouth coating tannin. Some heat mars this a bit but overall this is somewhat in the vein of a young Languedoc red. A good value and should last many years.
Red
2008 Vinhos Oscar Quevedo Douro Oscar's
Portugal, Douro
Nose is a bit reticent but I could coax a Bandol/Mouvedre type character out with some dark red fruits and wet brick aromas. Clean with a ton of non-tart acidity. Generous fruit and mouth coating tannin. Very good and a nice surprise. Retail is something like $12.00???? No brainer. Food friendly and something you can lay down for a few years.
Flight 2 - Primo (1 note)
House made square spaghetti, swordfish ragu, blistered cherry tomatoes, Sicilian chile basil-tomato sauce
Red - Fortified
1996 Vinhos Oscar Quevedo Porto Colheita
Portugal, Douro, Porto
Bright nose like a younger Tawny with lots of red fruit still and a strong alcohol aroma. Notes of tangerine, cherry and soil. Clean and bright palate, light bodied and balanced. Notes of cherries and nuts. Clean for a Colheita with strong acids and no sweetness standing out. Very good and something a non-Port fan should try.
Flight 3 - Secondo (1 note)
Beef medallion wrapped with speck ham and wine lavender, Port wine reduction, braised radicchio
Red - Fortified
1975 Vinhos Oscar Quevedo Porto Garrafeira Particular Colheita
Portugal, Douro, Porto
This isn't for sale and was bottled from the last barrel for this trip by Oscar with permission of his father. Showing a more typical Colheita nose with oxidation, nuts and caramel though still plenty fruity. Lots of acidity and very bright and richly fruited. Fresh and sweet. Just a lot more going on than the '96. This was terrific.
Flight 4 - Dolce (1 note)
Alternating desserts - Dark chocolate cake and Vanilla Panna Cotta
Red - Fortified
2007 Vinhos Oscar Quevedo Porto Vintage
Portugal, Douro, Porto
Ripe nose of dark baked fruits with a note of some thing like graham cracker or wheat bread. The palate shows very primary fruit in the way of a berry compote and dark ripe fruits. This wasn't all that sweet and actually a bit stony later on. So young and primary that this was hard for me to judge with my little experience in young Ports.
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