Chris BerryFounder, Wine Underdogs — chasing the world’s overlooked grapesIf you love Cabernet Sauvignon, you love one of two things about it: the depth or the structure. Touriga Nacional gives you both. Alicante Bouschet gives you the depth, the darkest color and the most sheer power of the three. Baga gives you the structure, the tannin and acid that reward a long wait in the cellar. All three are Portuguese, and none of them charges you for a famous word on the label.
The short answer
- Alicante Bouschet (Portugal): black fruit, dark chocolate and black pepper. The inkiest red you can buy, and the pick for power.
- Touriga Nacional (Portugal): blackberry, violet and bergamot. Cabernet's seriousness with a perfume Cabernet can't match.
- Baga (Portugal): sour cherry, dried herb, leather and slate. The one to lay down for years.
Which half of Cabernet do you miss?
Cabernet is the most famous red on earth, which means two things: it's reliably good, and you're reliably paying a premium for the name. So "like Cabernet" is really two requests. If you want the depth, the dark fruit and saturated color that fill the glass, you want a grape built for power. If you want the structure, the grip that stands up to a steak and the backbone that ages for a decade, you want a grape built for time.
| Grape | Gives you | Tannin |
|---|---|---|
| Alicante Bouschet | Depth and color | High |
| Touriga Nacional | Depth and structure | High |
| Baga | Structure | Fierce |
Alicante Bouschet: the depth, turned all the way up
Alentejo, Portugal · full body · ah-lee-KAHN-teh boo-SHAY
This is the grape the whole site is built on. Bred in France and made famous in Portugal's Alentejo, Alicante Bouschet is a teinturier: its flesh is red, not just its skin. That makes some of the darkest, most saturated wines in existence, black-fruited and full-bodied with a faintly savory edge.
Versus Cabernet: if you love Cabernet for its sheer depth of color and power, start here. It gives you more of both than most Cabernet does.
The catch: it's power more than polish. If what you love in Cabernet is its poise rather than its weight, this is the heavier glass.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name.
Read the Alicante Bouschet deep dive
Touriga Nacional: both halves, plus perfume
Douro & Dão, Portugal · full body, firm tannin · too-REE-gah nah-see-oh-NAHL
Portugal's noble grape, long the backbone of Port, also makes serious dry reds: dense, floral and tannic, built to age. Blackberry sits under violet and bergamot, with a note of mint.
Versus Cabernet: it has the structure and seriousness Cabernet drinkers prize, and the depth too. It's the closest all-round swap on this list.
The catch: the perfume. If you want Cabernet without the flowers, violet and bergamot will read as a detour rather than a bonus.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name.
Read the Touriga Nacional deep dive
Baga: the structure, built for the cellar
Bairrada, Portugal · high acid, high tannin · BAH-gah
They call it the Nebbiolo of Portugal. Baga is high in tannin and high in acid, savory and structured, with sour cherry, dried herb, leather and slate. Young, it's firm. Given years, it turns profound, at a fraction of what the classed growths it can outlast would cost you.
Versus Cabernet: if you cellar Cabernet for the long haul, this is your underdog. Same patience, same reward, much smaller bill.
The catch: a young bottle is hard going. Open it too early and you'll get the grip without the payoff, so buy it to wait.
Look for: a producer your shop stands behind, and ask them by name.
Keeping kosher? The swap still works. Israel makes single-varietal Petit Verdot, a grape Bordeaux only ever adds to Cabernet by the splash, and it's my pick for a kosher bottle to bring for Hanukkah.
Where to buy
All three come from Portugal, and US availability varies by grape and by shop. A good Portuguese section is your best bet, and an online order is the fallback. I haven't confirmed a specific bottle in stock online this month, so I'm not linking one. Take the grape names above to your local shop and ask what they'd pour.
One thing I owe you plainly: I haven't scored these bottles side by side yet. When I have, the scores go here, and this guide gets shorter.
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Every wine fact here comes from the grape guides on Wine Underdogs. Ben has never opened a bottle, and neither does this game. For readers 21 and over.
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