Incógnito

History

When Hans and Carrie Jorgensen saw Cortes de Cima for the first time in 1988, they knew that this was the place they had been searching for. The rolling hills reminded Carrie of her native California, and the sunny Mediterranean climate was the contrast to chilly Denmark for which Hans had been longing!

From the start, they did things differently from local custom, i.e. planting red wine varieties in a traditionally white wine area, introducing Syrah, (and at the time illegal!), using an untraditional ‘New World’ trellis system- just to name a few. When they bottled their first Syrah varietal in 1998, they were stuck on how to label it, since Syrah was still ‘illegal’ as a ‘Vinho Regional’ grape variety, so they called it ‘Incógnito´.

Current Vintage: 2005

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Click here for PDFs of past vintages: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

Vintage 2005

In the Alentejo, rainfall since October 2004 was the lowest for more than a century, recorded at 219 mm, down from our annual average of 600 mm. The winter was not only dry but cold, with morning frost and temperatures as low as -5 °. Not surprisingly, bud break was delayed by a fortnight and the growing season was shorter than usual. The ‘ideal’

September harvest weather, brought along cooler nights and warm, sunny, breezy weather during the days, just was what was needed for the phenolic ripening of the grapes, to preserve some good fruit acid and flavor.

Tasting Notes

Intense,opaque, deep purple hues. Dark plum and cherry aromas with hints of licorice. Extremely powerful but elegant palate with an intense core of dark stone fruits, well worked oak, ripe but firm tannins giving structure and balance.

Appellation: Vinho Regional Alentejano

Varieties: 100% Syrah

Total Acids: 5.1

Final pH: 3.73

Residual Sugars: 2.3

Alcohol: 14.5%

Grown, produced and bottled at the family estate

Bottled unfined and unfiltered in July 2006

Total production: 16.769 bottles (75 cl)

Release Date: November 2008

Unique Code: AVIN7137387963215 [?]

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Awards

Gold Medal – Berliner Wein Trophy – Germany 2009

Gold Medal – Vinalies Internationales – France 2009

Gold Medal (BEST IN CLASS) – Intl Wine & Spirit Competition – UK 2008

Gold Medal – Mundus Vini – Germany 2008

Silver Medal – International Wine Challenge – London 2008

Silver Medal – Concours Mondial du Vin – Bruxelles 2008

Silver Medal – Syrah du Monde – France 2008

Silver Medal – AWC Vienna – Austria 2008

3rd Place- ‘Essência do Vinho’ International Competition – Top Ten Portuguese Wines

Gran Menzione – Vinitaly 2008 Concorso Enologico Internazionale

Ratings

3.° place – BLUE WINE’s TOP 10

89 Parker

89 WE

Reviews

The 2005 INCOGNITO, Cortes de Cima’s famous, erstwhile “outlaw” Syrah, is rather well balanced this year, almost wimpy by some prior standards. Often the most flamboyant wine in the lineup, this actually shows some elegance and character, perhaps from the touch of game. It has a soft, rather sensual texture and good flavors still, but it also shows welcome restraint. There are supporting tannins along the edges. There are some quibbles here. The mid-palate seems rather thin at first for its price category, but it does flesh out with some air. The gamey note on the wine is unusual for this bottling, although not as pronounced as on the regular Syrah, and not entirely unwelcome. This is certainly a very different Incognito, but the bright, succulent finish is a pleasure, and I liked it more and more as it aired out. Drink now-2015. – Mark Squires – eRobertParker.com, Dec 2007

A wine that has become something of a cult in Portugal, perhaps because of its mystery name (referring to a time when Syrah was not permitted in Portugal). This 2005 keeps the open, ripe blackberry jam fruit, with dark chocolate and herbal flavors. It has a generous, earthy character. – R.V. WE (7/1/2008)

Deep crimson purple with a inky black core. Perfumed elemental nose, musky plum, blackberry, cassis aromas, with a backdrop of well seasoned oak. Delicious mouth entry, deep set fruit flavours, fine velvety sweet tannins and malty savoury oak. Superb balance and sumptious everlasting finish. This has the hallmarks of a truly great, world class Syrah. -IWSC 2008