2020 Guarda Rios Red Blend Portugal 750 ml

Portugal never ceases to shock us with the amount of pleasure its reds can pack in a bottle.

And at Decanter’s 2021 World Wine Awards, no Portuguese red wine scored higher than this 97-point, Platinum Medal–winning underdog: the 2020 Guarda Rios Red Blend, from the sunny Alentejo region.

Smooth and harmonious, it’s led by an aromatic mélange of black fruit ripened in Alentejo’s summer heat, with touches of licorice, dried herbs, and brined olive. The Guarda Rios is an eminently quaffable red, and each irresistible glass reveals the nuances of its beautifully round palate and firm but polished tannins.

Monte Da Ravasqueira, the winery behind Guarda Rios, makes its home in the town of Arraiolos, in the heart of the Alentejo region. Sitting to the north of the ancient Roman city of Évora, about 90 minutes due east of Lisbon, Alentejo—a patchwork of oak trees, wheat fields, and olive trees—could be very easily mistaken for Northern California. It’s also where the cork in the last bottle of wine you drank likely came from. A relatively young winegrowing region compared to the Douro, it’s now home to quality-minded producers like Ravasqueira.

Guarda Rios—comprising 40% Aragonez (Tempranillo), 25% Syrah, and the rest Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet—is raised in neutral oak barrels for eight months and bottled early to keep its ripe fruit fresh and juicy. It’s utterly crushable, and we can’t think of a more enticing, carefree red to pop around the grill with friends and family.