Sunny days and chilly nights lead our team of wine lovers here at Regional straight to the Portuguese wine shelf, which is home to soft reds from an old winemaking country with a new lease of life.

Portugal is best known for port but the same delicious combination of grape varieties is being pressed into service to make stunning fleshy reds, such as this one, Porta 6.  

It's made from one grape we do know and two that few of us are familiar with. The blend of red grapes in this wine is Tinta Roriz, which is the Portuguese name for the incredibly popular Tempranillo along with Castellau and Tinta Miuda. Most red wines in Portugal are blends of at least two or three grape varieties, often many more, and the names of the wines have traditionally been based on regions rather than grape varieties, which tends to be more of a new wave naming protocol (such as Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Pinot Noir et al).  
New wave wines from old winemaking countries, such as Portugal, are less likely to focus on the regional name as the main marketing message on the front label but instead they use fun attractive words, such as Porta 6. It's not only the label that makes this wine fun, together the trio of tasty red grape varieties combine to create a wine that is deep ruby in colour with firm velvety tannins and soft rich fruit flavours that makes it deliciously smooth as a drink-me-now red.  

And at this price, why wouldn't you?

Buy Porta 6 here or pop in store for this and other Portuguese goodies.

2021 Porta 6 RRP $21.99 Special $19.99

Portugal is on a roll at Regional and globally, as this spicy, warming red with its smooth fruit flavours shows. It is medium to full bodied with a smooth soft texture and depth of flavour from the three-way blend of red grapes, Tinta Roriz (also known as Tempranillo), Castellau and Tinta Miuda.