Maker: Symington, Gaia, Porto Grande, Portugal.
Grapes: Unknown
Place of origin: Douro, Portugal.
Vintage: 2011
ABV: 13.5%
Purchased for $7 (Trader Joe’s)
Appearance: Dark burgundy,
Nose: Raspberry, toasted oak, whiff of hardwood smoke.
Palate: Sweet and tart on entry then dries out. Raspberry jam, blueberry, oak, white pepper.
Finish: Chewy with heavy tannins, black cherry, oak.
Parting words: For a $7 wine, Tuella is pretty good. What I tell people is that most of the wines at Trader Joe’s taste like a wine about twice the price. The $15 ones taste like $30 ones, the $20 ones taste like $40 ones and the $4 ones taste like $8 ones. This tastes like a $14 wine.
Tuella is OK on its own, but it’s a little unbalanced. It does very well with food, though. We had it with a cheese and red pepper pizza and it drank beautifully. It may well age nicely but I have a hard time devoting my limited cellar space to a wine that cost me less than $10. Tuella 2011 is recommended.
Sipology 