Quinta do Pôpa, Touriga Nacional

Although Portugal is one of the world’s oldest wine cultures, it is still playing catch-up with its European neighbors in the international market. Consumers think of Portugal mostly as a source of fortified Port and Madeira wines (if they think of it at all), but that is changing rapidly—today’s wine being an especially delicious example. It is “new Portugal” all the way, a powerful, polished dry red from one of Port country’s greatest native varieties, Touriga Nacional. With Port wines mostly on the wane, vintners throughout Portugal’s Douro Valley have turned to dry reds as the way to put this historic terroir back on the map. The Douro DO is thought to be the oldest officially delimited wine appellation in the world, but Quinta do Pôpa is playing to more than nostalgia with this 2015: They’re showing that Douro reds are poised to stand toe-to-toe with more-expensive wines from places like Bordeaux, Argentina, and the Napa Valley. Today’s Touriga Nacional has a luxurious, modern fee