LV, a somewhat new project

[Roy Hersh]

Last night I went to a shop that featured a friend of mine and his wines. It was a project that got started in Alentejo in 2018, about 60 hectares on a property owned by the family of Manuel Lobo de Vasconcellos. If that name sounds familiar, it is because you may have met him or heard of him, as the esteemed table winemaker @ Quinta do Crasto. This was the first time that I have tried any of Manuel's wines from his own project. Glad I was willing to sit in traffic for a 1/2 in an Uber to get there, because the wines were enthralling.

Manuel's wines were featured at the terrific, wine geek shop in Matosinhos, GARAGE WINES, known for some outstanding Portuguese table and fortified wines. They have a broad selection of Ports, but honestly, nothing folks reading here would consider "hard to find." But back to LV. They did have a nice but medium sized selection of Madeira (Justino's/Barbeito) and some Moscatel de Setubal too.

Called "LV" due to his last name(s) Lobo (de) Vasconcellos, and the fact that Manuel has been making wines utilizing his family's property, there was a crowd of nearly 50 people of all ages packed into this unique wine shop that I first discovered a dozen years ago, shortly after it had opened. Manuel has crafted a range of a half dozen wines, split evenly between white and reds. They vary between an 8 Euro white, and his top end red, actually from a parcel in the Douro and called, "Vinha do Norte" as it is north facing. Cost is 61.50 Euros. Excellent, but in need of several years to be at a point that I'd prefer to drink it.

His least expensive white was rather impressive. Given the price point, insanely so. But as I have purchased tons of white wines from a variety of regions here in the past year, I did not dive in. Their was a "rose" wine that was completely orange and I figured it was just another of PT's too many efforts at pimping out another "red" Curtimenta, (in which the grape must macerates and ferments in contact with the skins, seeds and stalks.) There are whites done in this Orange style too. But this was a blush version of Touriga Nacional and not from the Curtimenta category. It was far better than expected. The reds were all quite good to great ... and blends, using a variety of grapes, including Syrah. My favorite was the 2020 LV Reserva, a phenomenal bargain at 25 euros / 750. I picked six and also grabbed two of the V. do Norte from 2019. The latter has 40% Touriga Nacional, 40% Touriga Franca and 20% Tinta Roriz. 14 % abv. A fine version of high end Douro. The Reserva was a crowd favorite and garnered a ton of commentary, all in Portuguese of course. But it was not only approachable at 5 years of age, it was a really beautiful wine. I have a dinner tonight at which I'd love to open one of my bottles, but they won't be delivered for a few days. Anyway, if you see this come into the USA ... grab a case!

I haven't checked out the website, but it was in a photo that I took: lobovwines.com and there is a FB and IG page of the same name.