Cas' Amaro Duas Osgas Tinto, Alentejo 2023

The varieities that go into this - Aragonez, Castelão and Trincadeira - suit the warm, dry Alentejo climate very well, providing wines full of generous dark fruit. Unoaked and fermented naturally, a year in tank and six months in bottle has given the tannins time to settle into something quite smooth and silky. Dark cherry, plum and forest fruits come first, with a dry, savoury character running underneath giving it all extra substance. Osgas, by the way, is Portuguese for geckos and you won't have to look hard to find some among the sun-baked limestone vineyards this comes from.

Best with food, though easy enough to enjoy on its own. The savoury character and dry finish make it a natural match for roast lamb, slow-cooked beef or a herb-crusted pork shoulder — anything with a bit of richness and depth.

One of Portugal's newer operations, Cas'Amaro was set up in 2016 when Lisbon businessman Paulo Amaro — keen to turn a long-held interest in wine into something more tangible — bought a run-down property at Aldeia Galega da Merceana in Alenquer. Rebuilt into a working winery, it became the Lisboa base from which he's steadily added estates across the country, now covering Vinho Verde, Dão, the Douro and Alentejo. Each site focuses on native varieties, and organic farming across all five has been certified since 2022. With small production numbers, while the regional spread is wide, it has quite a boutiquey feel, so you won't see these far and wide. Overall they haven't done bad in little more than a decade's work.