Red Wine – Vinha Dos Frades
I think sometimes it is good to push the boundaries of just how cheap you can go in Portugal and still have a decent glass of wine! Vinha Dos Frades is one of the cheapest of the cheap, and if you have a glance into the kitchen in some Portuguese restaurants you may well see a box – it could well be the “house red.” This is quite low in alcohol (11.5%) and sold as a table wine of non-specific origin BUT….it is really more than pleasant. It tastes like concentrated blackcurrant juice and is soft and scarily easy to glug! The thing is, it just doesn’t feel like really rough, cheap wine. Proof to us has been that we have far “better quality” wine in the house and we have still opted for the box. I suspect one of these boxes will become a permanent fixture on top of our fridge.
PRICE: €4.20 – FOR FIVE LITRES!!
MY VERDICT: 8/10
SECOND OPINION (The Wife): Nothing wrong with this at all, except for the fact it is hard to know how much you have had when it comes out of a handy tap! 8/10