TN: Po de Poeira Douro 2008

[Paul Fountain]

Nose smells of tar, and hint of tobacco. A touch earthy with a little mint freshness from the acidity.
Medium bodied and It presents as a little savoury and integrated. Not a lot of primary fruit to be found here. The finish has some length without being overly long. Ultimately it is quite a serviceable wine, but does lack a little excitement which could have taken it to the next level. 89 points

[Andy Velebil]

Are the cost of Portuguese dry wines typically as high as your Port prices there? Or are they more in line with the rest of what the world is paying?

[Paul Fountain]

I got this one in an unreserved auction at bargain basement prices, mainly because nobody knew what it was.
There was a fair bit of Quinta de la Rosa stuff (which I believe is where this was made) as well. I think an importer brought a whole lot in then had trouble selling it to retail here. It's a shame really.
Anything that gets imported into Australia, except for perhaps the Kiwi stuff gets hit with a WET (Wine Equalization Tax) which from memory is 29% of the original cost + shipping. Without the economy of scale that somewhere like the US has, the shipping costs can be pretty big for small importers so the prices end up sky high.That is true for the rest of Europe and is also part of the reason we see very little US wine here.
Access to Port here has been a lot better in the past couple of years though. The major liquor retailer here now stocks things like Cockburns special reserve and a lot of the Grahams range. We still pay more than the US and UK but it is competitive with our local fortifieds.

[Andy Velebil]

Yikes, that is a hefty mark up.