Campos de Cima Três Bocas 2016 is a blend of three grapes: tannat, cabernet sauvignon and ruby cabernet. All have thick, dark skins which were demonstrated by the beautiful intense, dark purple colour of the wine in the glass. The slight tawny rim was displaying early age. After an hour or so of opening where the wine was decanted and allowed to breathe, the nose changed from acetone and acerbic cherry drop sweets of the 1970s to black bramble fruit with black cherry. The nose was that of a youthful wine and the legs were well displayed as expected with a 13% alcohol volume wine. My mouth was watering in response to the acidity coming most probably from the ruby cabernet. On the palate was immediate pleasure and the judgement that this is a wine which could be enjoyed with good company and without food. The tannins, although apparent, did not grip to my gums and the fruit lingered on the length. I detected blackcurrant, but instead of the black cherry that I had detected on the nose, I tasted red cherry and mouth-watering hedgerow fruit, violets and mint and some vanilla on the length and then a surprising hit of pleasurable bitterness. It was like the pleasure of a strong cup of coffee after a hard day at work or a high cocoa dark chocolate bar. The bitterness, like the acidity was most likely from the ruby cabernet which although fruit driven, tends to be acidic with bitter spice in combination with red and black fruit. I found this relatively young wine to be a paradox: red and black fruit, dry, herbaceous, fruity yet savoury with some earthiness, a youthful nose but with a plethora of aromas that you would expect from an older wine. This is what makes wine so interesting and subjective. 

I served Campos de Cima Três Bocas 2016 with venison sausage casserole and potatoes mashed in butter and milk and served with mint sauce. The sausages, from my local butcher not the supermarket, had a very strong flavour which oozed into the sauce which was rich and gamey and too much for the wine. The mint sauce on the potatoes was picked up in the wine as was the butter and this pairing was excellent. After the food, the wine continued to be delicious as the subtleties in the wine which had been masked by the gamey sauce returned.

The next day the nose of the wine was soft with the addition of a hint of leather. On the palate it was surprisingly smooth and very enticing and was lovely without food. There was a loss of the vanilla on the length which was replaced with fruit. The length was understated but it had taken on a more savoury character, though still delicious and lively. I enjoyed lunch of goat’s cheese and Blue Stilton with warm bruschetta garnished with copious amounts of good quality French olive oil. The wine matched the ingredients beautifully and I could imagine the wine being poured from a clay jug to groups of grape pickers at the end of a hard day of harvesting grapes in a beautiful sunlight and rustic setting.

The third match was a homemade lasagne and salad. The wine was gorgeous with fresh pasta, homemade tomato sauce and Al forno sauce. The vanilla in the wine, which had been lost with the second food match returned with the Al forno sauce and the acidity in the wine was a great match with the fresh tomato sauce.

I found Campos de Cima Três Bocas 2016 very interesting and intriguing. It was provided by Go brazil  and costs £15 https://www.gobrazilwines.com/product/campos-de-cima-tres-bocas-2016/

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Read my wine and food column in the Bournemouth Echo on the first Saturday of each month