Barão de Vilar Cheaper DOCs
Posted: 14:51 Sat 29 Apr 2023
I apologise in advance if I get the corporate structure wrong, but I think I am right in saying that Barão de Vilar is owned by a combination of the Barros and Van Zeller families who have bought various brands, including Feuerheerd. Although I am not quite clear if they also own the Barros and Van Zeller brands, themselves.
On a couple of occasions recently I’ve tried some of their table wines. A few weeks ago, I bought a bottle of their Feuerheerd’s Anchor Wine Tinto from Sainsbury’s. Last night I had a glass of the “Smiling Donkey” Tinto in a pub. Whilst both of these wines have the appearance of being at the novelty end of the spectrum--the Anchor Wine comes wrapped in paper; whilst the Smiling Donkey has a silly name (albeit apparently a small donation is made to a donkey charity for each bottle sold)--I was really rather impressed with the quality of both of them. Not overly complex but balanced and drinkable without an excess of tannin or acid. I think they retail at about £9 (which I guess means they’d be about €6-7 in Portugal?) which is quite a tricky price range from most Douro reds in the UK.
I have to confess to mostly avoiding Barão de Vilar Ports at the moment, since i think they can be a bit under powered but on the basis of these two, I’d see it as a reassuring mark on a cheaper Douro DOC.
On a couple of occasions recently I’ve tried some of their table wines. A few weeks ago, I bought a bottle of their Feuerheerd’s Anchor Wine Tinto from Sainsbury’s. Last night I had a glass of the “Smiling Donkey” Tinto in a pub. Whilst both of these wines have the appearance of being at the novelty end of the spectrum--the Anchor Wine comes wrapped in paper; whilst the Smiling Donkey has a silly name (albeit apparently a small donation is made to a donkey charity for each bottle sold)--I was really rather impressed with the quality of both of them. Not overly complex but balanced and drinkable without an excess of tannin or acid. I think they retail at about £9 (which I guess means they’d be about €6-7 in Portugal?) which is quite a tricky price range from most Douro reds in the UK.
I have to confess to mostly avoiding Barão de Vilar Ports at the moment, since i think they can be a bit under powered but on the basis of these two, I’d see it as a reassuring mark on a cheaper Douro DOC.