Review: Herdade do Rocim Amphora Tinto

Some wines are made for the masses, some wines are made for aficionados and some wines are made for wine geeks. To me, this is a wine for wine geeks. That doesn’t mean that everyone else wouldn’t enjoy the wine, it just means there’s something special about the wine that wine geeks will totally geek out over.

That something special, in this case, is the wine was produced using traditional techniques. The fermentation vessel was an amphora — a big clay pot (see the image below of amphorae at Herdade do Rocim). These amphorae are porous, allowing some oxygen transfer much like a wood cask would do but without the flavor impact you would get from wood. Natural, indigenous yeast was used and additives were not used. This gives you a sense of what wine could have been like before modern winemaking technology. This is the stuff that wine geeks, like me, get excited about.

Most of the wines produced in this style, that I have seen, sell for premium prices. I can understand why that would be. Special equipment is needed (i.e., the amphorae). There are some risks with abandoning proven, dependable modern winemaking practices. The primary target audience is smaller because not all wine consumers are aware of, and seeking amphora wines. They just don’t know about them. For these reasons, winemakers are justified for charging a little more for wines like these.

Most wines produced in this style sell for premium prices, but not this one. This one is a mere $18 per bottle! A bargain for a wine produced in this way.

And, as much as we appreciate what modern technology and science bring to winemaking, it turns out that traditional winemaking techniques can also produce some delicious wine.

Tasting Notes

The nose is lovely, offering rich black cherry, cola nut, plum, garrigue herbs and lavender aromas. On the palate it brings really bright cherry, raspberry, plum and earl grey tea flavors with acidity that’s off the charts. The brightness would really play nicely paired with fatty meats or maybe an aged cheddar cheese. The mouthfeel is nice with a touch of creaminess and a slight grip from the tannins. The finish is very long and bright.

Wine: Herdade do Rocim Amphora Tinto
Varieties: Moreto, Tinta Grossa, Trincadeira and Aragonez (i.e., Tempranillo)
Vintage: 2019
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 88
Average price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.