Captain Fernao Pires de Andrade was a sixteenth-century Portuguese apothecary who somehow managed to have a grape name after him. Pires was sent to China to foster diplomatic relations between the Ming dynasty and the Portuguese crown, and I can't seem to ferret out why he ended up being the namesake of this grape. Apothecaries like Pires were often interested in plants, and they often used wine as a base for medicines--perhaps that's why. Perhaps it was a grape he brought back with him from his travels in the Mediterranean and Asia. Or maybe he was the first to identify it as an indigenous variety.However the grape got its name, it is an indigenous rarity that you don't see very often on US wine store shelves. In hot pursuit of my Wine Century, I snapped this up when I saw it appear on the domaine547 website for just $9.99 in the form of the 2006 Quinta do Alqueve Fernao Pires.
As with all grape varieties that you've never had before, one of the things that happens when you taste it is that you start grasping for similar taste experiences. Here, the best way I can describe it is that it's like a more aromatic verdelho on steroids. The wine was pale straw in color, and had abundant aromas of white flowers, lime blossom, lime zest, and chalk. The flavors remind you of these aromas, and as you sip it the wine picks up nice mineral inflections that talk the chalk into a more stony direction. Very good QPR for this price, and it would be a great substitute for verdelho or even a dry riesling if you are looking for a dry but aromatic wine.
This wine would be perfect with fish, seafood, or moderately spicy cuisine. We had it with a traditional Spanish dish, Shrimp Pil-Pil. In Pil-Pil, shellfish are quickly sauteed with garlic, olive oil, salt, and lots of smoky-sweet paprika. After just a few minute, this all gets poured into a bowl and you serve it with a fresh salad and lots of crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Shrimp pil pil seemed made for this wine, with the lime and flowers providing a nice counterpoint to the paprika an garlic, and the stone and lime working nicely with the shrimp's brininess.
