Review: Cartuxa, EA Red Blend

Nine dollars. That’s where I’d like to begin my discussion about this wine. Nine dollars is the suggested retail price for this bottle. I’ve seen it on sale for less than that too. Nine dollars is a bargain for this wine.

Although my focus on this website is affordably-priced wines — “cheap wine” is part of the name of this site, after all — it’s actually been a while since I’ve found a wine priced under $10 that’s been worth writing about. This one is worth every word I’m typing and then some.

EA red blend is produced by Cartuxa in Alentejo, Portugal. It’s made from a blend of native Portuguese and international grapes, including Aragonez (i.e., Tempranillo), Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet and Syrah. And, it’s delicious.

If you’ve been here before, you have probably read some reviews of other Portuguese wines. For years I’ve touted Portugal as a consistent source of wines with exceptional quality to price ratio (QPR). This one is a great example of that. A couple of the characteristics that often make a wine stand out as exceptional, rather than just average, are balance and mouthfeel. This wine excels in both of those.

Tasting Notes

The aromas on this wine are magical, offering spice, fruit and floral fragrances such as nutmeg, cherry, plum and rose. The palate brings a surprisingly silky mouthfeel with ripe fruit and spice flavors such as cherry, plum, red raspberry, white pepper and baking spices. Vibrant acidity adds a brightness to the fruit. I would call this a medium-bodied wine, making it very food friendly. This seems like a perfect red to go with poultry dishes. It finishes fairly long, with fruit and spice flavors.

Wine: Cartuxa, EA Red Blend
Varieties: 35% Aragonez, 30% Trincadeira, 20% Alicante Bouschet, 15% Syrah
Vintage: 2018
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 88
Suggested retail price: $9.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.