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The Touriga Nacional Grape


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About Touriga Nacional

(Synonyms: Azal Espanhol, Carabuñeira, Mortagua, Mortagua Preto, Preto Mortágua, Touriga, Touriga Fina, Tourigo, Tourigo Antiguo, Tourigo do Dão)

Background

Map showing Portugal

Touriga Nacional is a red-wine grape originating in Portugal, probably in the Dão region. It is generally considered one of the dozen and a half or so of world-class red-wine grapes; in part, that derives from its use as a major grape in the making of Port, but it is also a world-class table-wine grape.

As is usually the case with Old World wines, table wines based on Touriga Nacional were rarely if ever labelled by the grape, being given regional appellation names (notably Douro and Dão); in the modern, internationalized wine world, varietal bottlings, often monovarietal, are now fairly common. Touriga Nacional has been promoted as the “national grape of Portugal”, a policy some strongly favor and others think misguided. That second view arises because, one, it draws attention away from some other fine Portugese grape types; and two, it is not clear whether Touriga Nacional works as well as a monovarietal as it does blended. The grape has been analogized to Bordeaux’s Cabernet Sauvignon, with (per Jancis Robinson) the Touriga Francesca grape playing the role of Bordeaux’s Cabernet Franc.

The Touriga Nacional grape is small, and so has a high ratio of surface to volume. Since skin contributes much to the resultant wines, Touriga Nacional tends to be dark, strong-bodied, and intense in both aroma and flavors, with high tannin levels. A quality often associated with the wines is that of flowers, most notably violets; anyone who has had a good port has experienced many of the qualities of Touriga Nacional. Touriga Nacional wines typically age very well in bottle.

Factoid: Touriga Nacional is rarely grown outside Portugal, but small plantings are appearing in some of the emerging wine regions of the U.S. such as Texas and Virginia.

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Some Descriptions of Touriga Nacional Wines

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Some Touriga Nacionals to Try

(About this list.)

Quinta das Carvalhas Touriga Nacional
(Very nearly all the retail offerings are from the Total Wine chain.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



DFJ Vinhos “Grand’Arte” Touriga Nacional
(This is not their “Special Selection” or any other special bottling.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Follies Touriga Nacional

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Delaforce Touriga Nacional

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.

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For a Splurge

We did not find any Touriga Nacional bottlings enough better than anything listed above as to justify a “splurge” price.

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.