Portugal's Hero Black Reds Dozen

Save $114 on a sensational line-up – a real showcase of the lavish quality Portugal's top estate's offer – in the Black Red style so popular with customers. Rich in plenty of succulent black fruit flavour. And superb value at $18.99 a bottle.

Today you’re invited to try six, of our best Portuguese black reds, and meet some of the people behind them. People like Jaimé Quendera, credited with being at the forefront of Portugal’s new wave, and the man behind the ‘Best Red Wine in the World’ a few years back. He makes voluptuous reds like Rocksand Shiraz, which one UK newspaper named among its ‘12 Best Portuguese Wines’ and interstingly a straight Shiraz, while his Portinho do Covo, is a sumptuous blend of native Aragonês, Castelão and Alicante Bouschet all from old vines on the Setúbal Peninsula.

Jaimé also works with Casa Ermelinda Freitas, an estate founded a century ago and proud to have been run by three generations of women. The highly awarded Leonor Freitas (she has a title that makes her Portugal’s equivalent to a Dame), is in charge today, with her daughter, Joana, next in line. They make the mighty Vinha do Fava, a pure Touriga Nacional, best known as the mainstay grape of Port. It won Gold on debut and has gone on to win a Trophy, and 34 Golds in nine vintages.

Casa Santos Lima, a grand, family-run property near Lisbon and the Atlantic coast, founded by Joaquim Santos Lima in the late 19th century. Three generations later is one of Portugal’s most go-ahead cellars, with third generation Maria João Santos Lima and José Luís Santos Lima Oliveira da Silva, at the helm. Their Amoras brings together four cracking local grape varieties: leafy raspberry Castelão, juicy cherry-rich Camarate, cassis-laden Touriga Nacional and plummy Alicante Bouschet, and also make They also make Portuga, a rich, silky red blending Portugal’s native grapes with Cabernet and Syrah from a family estate.

Lobo e falcáo is a Syrah-rich, velvety blend, again with luscious black fruit – always top value, and often as in this vintage with a Gold too. It’s made at a 17th-century estate owned by the Lobo de Vasconcelos family, once the location of the king’s falconry.