Douro: The port makers’ wine

Portugal’s Douro Valley “bears close watching,” said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. Port has always been the valley’s specialty, but with port drinkers a fading species, the region recently began shifting its resources—including its distinctive grapes and brilliant minds—to producing table wines. The results are getting better all the time.

2008 Niepoort Douro Redoma ($45). The most reliable Douros are mid-priced. This “graceful, complex” wine was our favorite. “Focused and precise,” it has spicy notes and an “herbal edge” to its aromas.

2009 Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Douro ($20). This “fresh, elegant” wine offers “lingering plummy, mineral flavors.”

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2008 Palestra Douro ($9). A great value, this “intriguingly complex” wine is impressively structured, with “straightforward herbal and fruit flavors.”