Spain and Portugal continue to make wines that take you back in time. Recently in our office, we tasted two wines from CAVES SĀO JOĀO—a Cabernet and a white wine, both of which were from 1994 and are just now being released on the market (!). The Cabernet was like drinking a European red forty years ago—the smell of worn leather, weathered rocks, the rough hands of the man who made it. The white (made from the Portuguese grape Arinto) had a beautifully elegant, aged character and was evocative of chamomile tea, lemon curd, earth, and honey sprinkled with salt. I’m so thankful that artisanal wines like these are still made, still aged, still available to buy. They make mass-market wines taste lifeless, soul-less, and almost pointless.
Traveling Back In Time
