Review: Herdade do Rocim, Alicante Bouschet

I’ve long been a fan of Portuguese wine. In my opinion, it’s one of the best regions for finding exceptional quality for reasonable prices. Unfortunately, I don’t see very much Portuguese wine in the wine shops where I live, Cincinnati, but when I do see it I scoop it up!

This week I have the good fortune to have an opportunity to taste some wines from the Alentejo region of Portugal, which is located in the southern half of the country and spans about 1/3rd of the country. While wine has been produced in the region for centuries, it’s one of those regions that’s been relatively obscure in the international wine trade and isn’t a household name for many wine consumers. That means it’s an excellent region for bargain hunters like me.

Wine geeks, like me, also get excited about the opportunity to taste different varieties of wines when checking out a region like Alentejo, which has over 250 indigenous grape varieties. One of the star grapes in the region is alicante bouschet, which is a French-originated cross of petit bouschet and grenache. And while I’ve had alicante bouschet before, this is the first one I’ve reviewed on this website.

This particular alicante bouschet comes from Herdade do Rocim. While Alentejo is generally thought of as a hot region, the vineyards of Rocim reside in the southern part of the region and benefit from cool air from the Algarve coast, resulting in this being the most temperate part of Alentejo.

Right from the first whiff, this wine smells rich. Concentrated blackberry and black currant aromas provide the foundation of the nose, with plenty of spice layers such as black pepper, allspice and leather. On the palate it delivers concentrated blackberry and currant flavors with a touch of spice and a brightness from the acidity. It coats your tongue with a velvety mouthfeel that is simply luxurious. This is a really nice wine for twenty bucks.

Wine: Herdade do Rocim, Alicante Bouschet
Varieties: 100% alicante bouschet
Vintage: 2016
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 90
Average price: $20.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.