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It seems like only yesterday we were on our honeymoon in Portugal, sipping the fine wines and ports produced by Quinta de la Rosa.
Maybe that’s because yesterday we were sipping a wonderful Douro D.O.C from Quinta de la Rosa in the comfort of our home. Unlike Sandman, Taylor, or Fonseca, Quinta de la Rosa isn’t readily available throughout the US. Still, how hard could it be to get a case of vintage port? The answer to that question involves a nine month odyssey spanning three liquor stores (and one importer).
Our first stop was Central Liquors, but that didn’t work out as well as we’d planned. We contacted the wine brothers back in January since they’d never let us down on a special order before. After a few months it became clear Central couldn’t help us this time, though they were in the middle of scheduling their move to 6th & E St NW.
The second liquor store we tried, Schneider’s of Capitol Hill, didn’t come through either. It was Schneider’s who informed us that the hold up was courtesy of the importer, William-Harrison Imports out of Manassas, VA. Schneider’s was great with email updates; they’d send regular emails noting that William-Harrison didn’t have the wines yet.
And check back we did. Month after month we emailed Schneider’s and each time they responded “check back.” So it came as quite a surprise to us (and we suspect, Schneider’s) when Mrs Columbo walked into Bell Wine & Spirits (18th & M St NW) on an unrelated task and what did she find? Wines and ports from Quinta de la Rosa, all of them stamped as having been imported by William-Harrison, sitting on the shelf. Mrs Columbo placed an order for what we wanted, and within a week Bell delivered the wine right to our condo (they even waived the $20 delivery fee).
We have no hard feelings against Central or Schneider’s, we still shop at both. But Bell is just a few metro stops away and they came through for us in a big way. And hey, in just 20 years we can open a bottle of vintage port to see if it was worth the hassle.
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I’ve always been a port and sherry fan until I recently discovered madeiras, which played a major role in early colonial history. Since there was no wine domestic wines, the only wines that could make the Atlantic crossing were fortified ones, like madeiras. And since the English Crown had treaties with Portugal, they became very affordable and popular. The flavor lies somewhere between the dryness of sherry and the richness of port. And they’re still surprisingly affordable when compared to even some mediocre French wines. Blandy’s 10 Year Old Malmsey is an excellent apertif and a steal at under $30. And they’re great for deglazing a pan to make a nice quick sauce for meat or game.