Top Portuguese Whites in 2014
OK, bear with me for a second. These wines may not be amazing in your THIS GOT 90PTS AND IT'S ONLY $8!!! kind of way, but they are great values and are a wonderful opportunity to add some amazement into your life. Not in this is a great Sauvignon Blanc kind of way but rather in a WOW! WHAT IS THIS? kind of way!
Now I'm a pretty savvy guy when it comes to wine, and the truth is I'm pretty sure I've had all these grapes before, save for the Fernão Pires, but with the Portuguese accents everything sounds Russian, or maybe Turkish? I can only guess what I've thought I've heard in the past. The amazing thing here is that for several days all I had was these wacky Portuguese varieties, red and white. And I do apologize for all the punctuation within sentences here. I'm sure it's bad form but as much as I like to think I write I am a wine guy who exercises creative license in quite the liberal way.
Anyway, I do digress. So the thing here is, Portugal is a land of indigenous varieties, at least that's what they were showing me on a recent visit to area around Lisbon and to the north. From the south, in the Alentejo in particular, you will find quite a significant number of wines made with the more familiar varieties, but here in the northern half of the country such progress has been absent. It's obvious almost everywhere, except the new stadiums and impressive highway system where an abundance of progress was to be had, progress that in turn forestalled a step ahead in other parts of the economy. No, things do not look as though moved ahead much for the Portuguese wine industry in the last decade. In fact I would say that some parts of the industry seem deeply rooted in an industry more fit for the 1980s than the 2000s. And you see, that is not a bad thing.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the Portuguese wine industry is operating like it's 1980. Quite the contrary, they seem to be quite modernized in most of the ways that count, or moving there rapidly. In a few ways though these remain some of the most reliable, exciting and rewarding options for old world plates looking for value options, or any option for that matter.
The Portuguese are not going to like seeing that I'm calling them a value play. As with most regions or countries who are value plays, they don’t like that. Fortunately for them I don't care about the opinions of others when it comes to values. Just like points are a fungible concept so too with the concept of value. That's what I told them, but then I got home and did a little research. Hey folks. Your wines are terrific values. People should know. Let's get it straight here, I'm trying to help you sell some wine because what I tasted last month was fascinating, delicious and, then I checked the prices.
With Vinho Verde it is expected. Even Alvarino, but what is this Encruzado that you speak of, and what is up with the 2011 Quinta dos Bageiras Branco or the 2008 Bucaco Branco Reservado, which has plenty of Lopez de Heredia character! See, I'm getting excited writing about these wines. Truth be told these wines are worth it, whether out of sheer quality or the experience of discovery that one can feel here. Don't undersell it. Discovery becomes rarer with age, so imagine combining it with buckets of complexity and lots of sheer fun. That in a nutshell is Portuguese wines, red and white, though today I want to focus on the whites.
I've had more than my share of fat, even oxidized Portuguese whites. these aren't them. For the most part these are remarkably fresh and detailed wines, though more than one drifts off into the arena of roundness and fruitiness. Many combine blazing acidity with a touch of sugar, but few are fat and lumpy. And therein lies part of the modest silver lining to a lack of progress. The wines are the way they are because the use of oak and other advanced techniques are very well considered indeed. It may be master winemaking, but you have to think that no small part of the reason the white wines of Portugal tend not to be overoaked or thoroughly massaged is because they have historically sold for less than a vigorously oaked or thoroughly massaged wine could, or at least should have. That and there must be a local predisposition to little overt oak. We like that.
In any event the wines are what they are today and one hopes that what one sees is the direction for the future. If one were asked one would suggest as much, that this be the true way forward, and in fact such a message was relayed, with varying response on the part of the Portuguese. Lets just say the Portuguese wine industry has wide and varied objectives. In the meantime, while waiting for traction in some markets, where even a little slippage would in fact be an improvement, growth seems to be coming from the most unlikely places. Unlikely of course to those with not much of an understanding of the colonial world and some skewed sense of how grievance should be settled. I am speaking obliquely, because I can, and because a bottle of Chardonnay is coursing through my veins, of Portugal's former colonies of Mozambique and Angola; both significant new markets for Portugal's wine industry.
So today these wines remain values, though with a ready and growing market they are not likely to remain that way. Remain in the same style a market grows accustomed to, one would hope, but soon the prices for many of these wines will begin their inevitable drift up. It won't take much. Portugal is not that big of a country, though part some to planted double deep in vines, and many of the wines I was able to taste are produced in modest amounts. “No it won't take much” I'm sure they've been saying for years. It'll just take those last few years. I've been around long enough to know that those few years aren't three. No they're closer to seven or eight but, they’ll get there. They'll get there producing some of the last undiscovered indigenous grapes out there, and they’ll get there based on wines that for the most part aren't going to scream "I am the shizzle". First time using that word professionally so I get double word score by the way and triple bonus because no Portuguese ever said that, ever. That's not their style.
No they’ll get their by making wines that say look right through me instead of at me. Wines that speak of new grapes and the soils they come from. Wines that will appeal to a new audience precisely because they offer a unique and accessible wine experience. Financially accessible of course but also in the sense that these wines are for the most part easy to get. Easy to like. There's very little of convincing oneself that “it's good for the style it's made in” stuff.
They are table wines, not display wines. They are Bical and Maria Gomes, which seems to be like Fernão Pires in drag seeing as they are supposed to be the same variety just coming from different parts of Portugal. They are also polite and in that they are very Portuguese. In short they are, in some small way or another, a little bit of what anyone wants once in a whole. And yet we don't. It's not that we don't want them, its just that we don't know about them, so how could we ever want them, Vinho Verde for the most part excused here.
Taste them. Discover them. Then you'll want them, but they're going to be harder to find than your average wine. Don't let that deter you, they are not your average wines. Track a few down, they're worth it and at these prices it'll be particularly rewarding.
Vinho Verde
Sandeman
Gazela
A little yeasty on the nose with some green pear and lemon fruit aromas. On entry this is refreshingly mineral and lightly frizzante with green pear and lime flavors on the light palate ending with a clean, fresh and brief finish. 83pts
2012 Aveleda Vinho Verde
Earthy on the nose with a bit of sulfur from bottling but beneath that one finds a little lime leaf and sweet lime and Meyer lemon fruit. Soft and juicy on entry, this shows off fresh lemon and watermelon rind flavors on the palate with a nice dusty almost floral quality in the mouth leading to a soft fairly short finish. 85pts
2012 Casal Garcia Vinho Verde
Lime peel, a little white peach pit and dusty mineral notes with a lightly floral top note greets the nose. This is bright, juicy in the mouth with lovely fruit that is bright with a hint of orange oil over lime flavors and a nice hint of sweetness on the tart finish. Supremely refreshing. 86pts
2012 Quinta do Aveleda Vinho Verde
Fine fruit on the nose, melon with floral accents supporting almost muscatty lychee aromas On the palate this is cool and crisp, bright and finely mineral on entry with a nice mid-palate richness that highlights bright yet integrated acids and fine mineral laced melon and tart apple flavors that show fine persistence on the finish. 88pts
Alvarinho
Aveleda Alvarinho
2012
A little diesel on the nose is layered under aromas of ripe peach with kiwifruit top notes. This shows great cut, a touch of sugar roundness supporting floral almost white peach, candied pink grapefruit and kiwi fruit flavors that lead to a zesty finish that shows a little melon with a gently fading sweetness. 87pts
2011
Candied lime tops an umami laced nose that is quite dusty and polleny. This is a little loose on the palate, ripe and peachy and rather lazy in the mouth showing hints of cream and pineapple on the moderately long finish. 84pts
2008
Deeply aromatic if evolved on the nose with lots of dried apricot fruit and hints of white pepper, honeycomb, with some steeliness and a machine oil accent. Nice and firm if lean in the mouth with excellent focus and fine mineral notes under clear if lean almost grapefruity, slightly pithy fruit, with a creamy edge. Showing good length on the very clean and fresh finish. This remains elegant with a fine tension in the mouth. 87pts
Encruzado
Sandeman
2011 Quinta dos Carvalhais Encruzado
Oaky, nutty, cool climate Chardonnay like nose is buttery and smoke filled and very influenced by wood. On the palate this shows rich flavors of caramel and melon in a lean, crisp and focused style that is a little rustic on the finish. Snappy, sapid and focused. 87pts
2012 Cabriz Encruzado
Soft notes of barrel fermentation greet the nose followed by deep and perfumed aromas of linden flower, yellow fruit that recalls quince. Bright and a little viscous in the mouth with a base of lightly sweet toast, this shows fine tension and clarity on the palate. Subtle and long with nice mineral river stone and steely accents drive the wonderfully focused palate that extends through the finish which shows a hint of mandarin pith. This is still a bit young but so very well put together. 89pts
Bical
2012 Cabriz Q de E Bical
Dusty, sandy and pithy on the nose with decidedly chalky overtones to the estery white peach fruit. While very light in the mouth this is really very fruity in a very light super fresh style that shows off clean, crisp pithy green fruit leading to a modest finish. Perhaps a bit of a small wine but very refreshing. 85pts
2012 Nossa Calcario
Bical 100%
Barrel fermented and matured in mixed French oak casks for six months
Lots of oak influence on the assertive smoky, bacon fat, pork fat nose. This shows some sweetness on entry balancing the fairly prominent acidity all supporting lots of yellow apple fruit with an edge of marzipan adding sweetness. This turns clean, precise and bracing on the long, tart, mineral laced backend that shows fine depth and a sweet mint gum note. the finish turns fairly rich and a bit weighty with a lingering mineral water note on the finale. A fascinating wine. 89pts
Crazy indigenous blend
2012 Vallado White Reserva
Aged in 500 liters, 40% new rest second passage
Rabigato, Gouveio, Arinto and Viosinho.
A little leesy on the nose with notes of steel, vanilla and flowers adding detail to the citrus/mandarin orange aromas. Bright acidity and fine minerality pop on entry then the midpalate reveals lovely use of oak supporting fine clean orange blossom and white apple fruit that gains a little Chablis like rock and crushed flower accent in the glass. Complex and complete, this is lovely. 90pts
2012 Quinta do Crasto Branco
Viosinho, Rabigato, Gouveio
2006 was first vintage, granitic soils, 600 meters above sea level, fermented for almost 45 days at 12 to 14 degrees, 2.4 grams per liter, using a cultivated strain from the douro,
Orange blossoms and citrusy aromas greet the nose followed by a bit of melon with a dusty base note and fruit that is rather Quincy Sauvignon Blanc like, except floral tinged rather than herbal. At first this seems a little sweet then the wine’s high acidity kicks in lending nice dusty cut to the lime/citrus fruit that shows good length with lots of grapefruit on the finish. There’s a bit pith and slightly pithiness bitterness on the finish as well. A pretty zesty wine that should appeal to Sauvignon Blanc drinkers. 87pts
Cabrini
2012 Cabriz Colheita Seleccionada
A blend of Malvasia Fina , Cerceal ,Bical and Encruzado , half fermented in stainless steel, half in French oak
Fairly yeasty on the nose with a gentle leesy base note under clean and very fresh citrus fruits. On the palate one finds plenty of creamy citrus flavors with a light melon accent note and a hint of minerality. Full of tangy lime on the finish,this shows lovely clarity and freshness in a light, refreshing style. 86pts
2012 Casa de Santar Colheita White
Cerceal, Encruzado
Quartzy and a touch leathery on the nose with smoky dried citrus fruit and some pineapple top notes. This is smooth and juicy in the mouth with sweet pineapple and green apple fruit, and even a bit of mango here with a light sweetness on the back end. The mango pops on the finish, along with some residual sweetness. A very friendly and fairly fruity wine. 85pts
2011 Sidonio de Sousa
40% Bical, 40% Maria Gomes, 20% Arinto
Fruity and herbal on the nose with hints of spearmint and quinine along with a touch of caramel, lime pith and floral aromas. With plenty of bright acid this is clean brisk and citrussy in the mouth though with a fair amount of creamy autolytic character on the backend. While this remains fresh in the mouth it does have a bit of tutti frutti gum character, pineapple and a hint of banana and it finishes on the short side. I’m not sure this knows what it wants to be. 84pts
2011 Quinta dos Bageiras
50/50 Maria Gomes and Bical,
Fermented in 2500 liter wood barrel, on indigenous yeasts then aged in 1000 liter barrels where it is allowed to oxidize a bit.
Waxy on the nose with gorgeous sage, citrus oil and faint vegetal and chalk aromas that are framed with hints of leather and pork fat. Bright on entry and with great fruit early on the medium bodied palate, this shows excellent depth of fruit, superb focus and good tension in the mouth. there’s a wave of late arriving complexity, savory and aromatic in the mouth that leads to a long, complex finish. This has excellent potential to improve in the cellar. A bit of a revelation. 92pts
2008 Bucaco Branco Reservado
Fermented in wood and one year aging, 300 liters, 100% new medium toast, Five to six thousand bottles a year
One grape from dal two from Barriada
Encruzado, Maria Gomes, Bical
An oxidative sweetness greets the nose recalling cooked white meats which leads to layers of banana, slate, and gentle dried citrus fruits on the nose. With huge acids on entry this shows lovely balance in a clean but obvious oxidative style. The oxidation adds a touch of sweetness and high toned complexity in the mouth with a little VA adding lift to the lime and tart apple flavors. The nice astringent finish shows good length with more banana and creamy almost melony fruit that shows nice depth with the oak very well integrated. There’s some Lopez de Heredia character here. 90pts
2012 Terra de Lobos
Fernão Pires Sauvignon Blanc
Floral, apple and woodsy on the nose with an orange oil to note. Medium bodied in the mouth, this shows off plenty of mandarin orange flavor with lime accents and turns lighter on the mid-palate as the acid begins to assert itself through the buffering material here leaving this with a lightly creamy texture with nice tart flavors that show a bit of pineapple and a bit of lime pith on moderately long finish. 86pts
Fernão Pires
2012 Quinta do Casal Branco
100% Fernão Pires
Very mineral, floral, and almost Gruner like on the nose with aromas of green fruits and even a hint of white pepper. A bit low on the palate though with plenty of acid and a nice deep chalky mineral vein embedded in fairly intense bitter apple and pineapple flavors. There’s nice length to the fine golden fruit flavors that show a faint persistent pithy note and a hint of raw nut and mandarin orange on the fairly long finish. 88pts
2012 Quinta do Casal Branco Falcoaria
100%Fernão Pires
Half barrel fermented then aged for six months in wood.
Mineral and tropical on the nose with aromas of citrus fruits framed with a little almond cream. On entry this turns quite floral in the mouth in a very elegant, clear and precise style that shows great cut and almost salty minerality. Flavors of apple with clear lemon juice accents dominate the mid palate along with very subtle wood tones that lead to a finish which gains a bit of a spicy undertone. This feels young and I bet it improves over the short term but it’s already fabulous. 91pts
Now I'm a pretty savvy guy when it comes to wine, and the truth is I'm pretty sure I've had all these grapes before, save for the Fernão Pires, but with the Portuguese accents everything sounds Russian, or maybe Turkish? I can only guess what I've thought I've heard in the past. The amazing thing here is that for several days all I had was these wacky Portuguese varieties, red and white. And I do apologize for all the punctuation within sentences here. I'm sure it's bad form but as much as I like to think I write I am a wine guy who exercises creative license in quite the liberal way.
Anyway, I do digress. So the thing here is, Portugal is a land of indigenous varieties, at least that's what they were showing me on a recent visit to area around Lisbon and to the north. From the south, in the Alentejo in particular, you will find quite a significant number of wines made with the more familiar varieties, but here in the northern half of the country such progress has been absent. It's obvious almost everywhere, except the new stadiums and impressive highway system where an abundance of progress was to be had, progress that in turn forestalled a step ahead in other parts of the economy. No, things do not look as though moved ahead much for the Portuguese wine industry in the last decade. In fact I would say that some parts of the industry seem deeply rooted in an industry more fit for the 1980s than the 2000s. And you see, that is not a bad thing.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the Portuguese wine industry is operating like it's 1980. Quite the contrary, they seem to be quite modernized in most of the ways that count, or moving there rapidly. In a few ways though these remain some of the most reliable, exciting and rewarding options for old world plates looking for value options, or any option for that matter.
The Portuguese are not going to like seeing that I'm calling them a value play. As with most regions or countries who are value plays, they don’t like that. Fortunately for them I don't care about the opinions of others when it comes to values. Just like points are a fungible concept so too with the concept of value. That's what I told them, but then I got home and did a little research. Hey folks. Your wines are terrific values. People should know. Let's get it straight here, I'm trying to help you sell some wine because what I tasted last month was fascinating, delicious and, then I checked the prices.
With Vinho Verde it is expected. Even Alvarino, but what is this Encruzado that you speak of, and what is up with the 2011 Quinta dos Bageiras Branco or the 2008 Bucaco Branco Reservado, which has plenty of Lopez de Heredia character! See, I'm getting excited writing about these wines. Truth be told these wines are worth it, whether out of sheer quality or the experience of discovery that one can feel here. Don't undersell it. Discovery becomes rarer with age, so imagine combining it with buckets of complexity and lots of sheer fun. That in a nutshell is Portuguese wines, red and white, though today I want to focus on the whites.
I've had more than my share of fat, even oxidized Portuguese whites. these aren't them. For the most part these are remarkably fresh and detailed wines, though more than one drifts off into the arena of roundness and fruitiness. Many combine blazing acidity with a touch of sugar, but few are fat and lumpy. And therein lies part of the modest silver lining to a lack of progress. The wines are the way they are because the use of oak and other advanced techniques are very well considered indeed. It may be master winemaking, but you have to think that no small part of the reason the white wines of Portugal tend not to be overoaked or thoroughly massaged is because they have historically sold for less than a vigorously oaked or thoroughly massaged wine could, or at least should have. That and there must be a local predisposition to little overt oak. We like that.
In any event the wines are what they are today and one hopes that what one sees is the direction for the future. If one were asked one would suggest as much, that this be the true way forward, and in fact such a message was relayed, with varying response on the part of the Portuguese. Lets just say the Portuguese wine industry has wide and varied objectives. In the meantime, while waiting for traction in some markets, where even a little slippage would in fact be an improvement, growth seems to be coming from the most unlikely places. Unlikely of course to those with not much of an understanding of the colonial world and some skewed sense of how grievance should be settled. I am speaking obliquely, because I can, and because a bottle of Chardonnay is coursing through my veins, of Portugal's former colonies of Mozambique and Angola; both significant new markets for Portugal's wine industry.
So today these wines remain values, though with a ready and growing market they are not likely to remain that way. Remain in the same style a market grows accustomed to, one would hope, but soon the prices for many of these wines will begin their inevitable drift up. It won't take much. Portugal is not that big of a country, though part some to planted double deep in vines, and many of the wines I was able to taste are produced in modest amounts. “No it won't take much” I'm sure they've been saying for years. It'll just take those last few years. I've been around long enough to know that those few years aren't three. No they're closer to seven or eight but, they’ll get there. They'll get there producing some of the last undiscovered indigenous grapes out there, and they’ll get there based on wines that for the most part aren't going to scream "I am the shizzle". First time using that word professionally so I get double word score by the way and triple bonus because no Portuguese ever said that, ever. That's not their style.
No they’ll get their by making wines that say look right through me instead of at me. Wines that speak of new grapes and the soils they come from. Wines that will appeal to a new audience precisely because they offer a unique and accessible wine experience. Financially accessible of course but also in the sense that these wines are for the most part easy to get. Easy to like. There's very little of convincing oneself that “it's good for the style it's made in” stuff.
They are table wines, not display wines. They are Bical and Maria Gomes, which seems to be like Fernão Pires in drag seeing as they are supposed to be the same variety just coming from different parts of Portugal. They are also polite and in that they are very Portuguese. In short they are, in some small way or another, a little bit of what anyone wants once in a whole. And yet we don't. It's not that we don't want them, its just that we don't know about them, so how could we ever want them, Vinho Verde for the most part excused here.
Taste them. Discover them. Then you'll want them, but they're going to be harder to find than your average wine. Don't let that deter you, they are not your average wines. Track a few down, they're worth it and at these prices it'll be particularly rewarding.
Vinho Verde
Sandeman
Gazela
A little yeasty on the nose with some green pear and lemon fruit aromas. On entry this is refreshingly mineral and lightly frizzante with green pear and lime flavors on the light palate ending with a clean, fresh and brief finish. 83pts
2012 Aveleda Vinho Verde
Earthy on the nose with a bit of sulfur from bottling but beneath that one finds a little lime leaf and sweet lime and Meyer lemon fruit. Soft and juicy on entry, this shows off fresh lemon and watermelon rind flavors on the palate with a nice dusty almost floral quality in the mouth leading to a soft fairly short finish. 85pts
2012 Casal Garcia Vinho Verde
Lime peel, a little white peach pit and dusty mineral notes with a lightly floral top note greets the nose. This is bright, juicy in the mouth with lovely fruit that is bright with a hint of orange oil over lime flavors and a nice hint of sweetness on the tart finish. Supremely refreshing. 86pts
2012 Quinta do Aveleda Vinho Verde
Fine fruit on the nose, melon with floral accents supporting almost muscatty lychee aromas On the palate this is cool and crisp, bright and finely mineral on entry with a nice mid-palate richness that highlights bright yet integrated acids and fine mineral laced melon and tart apple flavors that show fine persistence on the finish. 88pts
Alvarinho
Aveleda Alvarinho
2012
A little diesel on the nose is layered under aromas of ripe peach with kiwifruit top notes. This shows great cut, a touch of sugar roundness supporting floral almost white peach, candied pink grapefruit and kiwi fruit flavors that lead to a zesty finish that shows a little melon with a gently fading sweetness. 87pts
2011
Candied lime tops an umami laced nose that is quite dusty and polleny. This is a little loose on the palate, ripe and peachy and rather lazy in the mouth showing hints of cream and pineapple on the moderately long finish. 84pts
2008
Deeply aromatic if evolved on the nose with lots of dried apricot fruit and hints of white pepper, honeycomb, with some steeliness and a machine oil accent. Nice and firm if lean in the mouth with excellent focus and fine mineral notes under clear if lean almost grapefruity, slightly pithy fruit, with a creamy edge. Showing good length on the very clean and fresh finish. This remains elegant with a fine tension in the mouth. 87pts
Encruzado
Sandeman
2011 Quinta dos Carvalhais Encruzado
Oaky, nutty, cool climate Chardonnay like nose is buttery and smoke filled and very influenced by wood. On the palate this shows rich flavors of caramel and melon in a lean, crisp and focused style that is a little rustic on the finish. Snappy, sapid and focused. 87pts
2012 Cabriz Encruzado
Soft notes of barrel fermentation greet the nose followed by deep and perfumed aromas of linden flower, yellow fruit that recalls quince. Bright and a little viscous in the mouth with a base of lightly sweet toast, this shows fine tension and clarity on the palate. Subtle and long with nice mineral river stone and steely accents drive the wonderfully focused palate that extends through the finish which shows a hint of mandarin pith. This is still a bit young but so very well put together. 89pts
Bical
2012 Cabriz Q de E Bical
Dusty, sandy and pithy on the nose with decidedly chalky overtones to the estery white peach fruit. While very light in the mouth this is really very fruity in a very light super fresh style that shows off clean, crisp pithy green fruit leading to a modest finish. Perhaps a bit of a small wine but very refreshing. 85pts
2012 Nossa Calcario
Bical 100%
Barrel fermented and matured in mixed French oak casks for six months
Lots of oak influence on the assertive smoky, bacon fat, pork fat nose. This shows some sweetness on entry balancing the fairly prominent acidity all supporting lots of yellow apple fruit with an edge of marzipan adding sweetness. This turns clean, precise and bracing on the long, tart, mineral laced backend that shows fine depth and a sweet mint gum note. the finish turns fairly rich and a bit weighty with a lingering mineral water note on the finale. A fascinating wine. 89pts
Crazy indigenous blend
2012 Vallado White Reserva
Aged in 500 liters, 40% new rest second passage
Rabigato, Gouveio, Arinto and Viosinho.
A little leesy on the nose with notes of steel, vanilla and flowers adding detail to the citrus/mandarin orange aromas. Bright acidity and fine minerality pop on entry then the midpalate reveals lovely use of oak supporting fine clean orange blossom and white apple fruit that gains a little Chablis like rock and crushed flower accent in the glass. Complex and complete, this is lovely. 90pts
2012 Quinta do Crasto Branco
Viosinho, Rabigato, Gouveio
2006 was first vintage, granitic soils, 600 meters above sea level, fermented for almost 45 days at 12 to 14 degrees, 2.4 grams per liter, using a cultivated strain from the douro,
Orange blossoms and citrusy aromas greet the nose followed by a bit of melon with a dusty base note and fruit that is rather Quincy Sauvignon Blanc like, except floral tinged rather than herbal. At first this seems a little sweet then the wine’s high acidity kicks in lending nice dusty cut to the lime/citrus fruit that shows good length with lots of grapefruit on the finish. There’s a bit pith and slightly pithiness bitterness on the finish as well. A pretty zesty wine that should appeal to Sauvignon Blanc drinkers. 87pts
Cabrini
2012 Cabriz Colheita Seleccionada
A blend of Malvasia Fina , Cerceal ,Bical and Encruzado , half fermented in stainless steel, half in French oak
Fairly yeasty on the nose with a gentle leesy base note under clean and very fresh citrus fruits. On the palate one finds plenty of creamy citrus flavors with a light melon accent note and a hint of minerality. Full of tangy lime on the finish,this shows lovely clarity and freshness in a light, refreshing style. 86pts
2012 Casa de Santar Colheita White
Cerceal, Encruzado
Quartzy and a touch leathery on the nose with smoky dried citrus fruit and some pineapple top notes. This is smooth and juicy in the mouth with sweet pineapple and green apple fruit, and even a bit of mango here with a light sweetness on the back end. The mango pops on the finish, along with some residual sweetness. A very friendly and fairly fruity wine. 85pts
2011 Sidonio de Sousa
40% Bical, 40% Maria Gomes, 20% Arinto
Fruity and herbal on the nose with hints of spearmint and quinine along with a touch of caramel, lime pith and floral aromas. With plenty of bright acid this is clean brisk and citrussy in the mouth though with a fair amount of creamy autolytic character on the backend. While this remains fresh in the mouth it does have a bit of tutti frutti gum character, pineapple and a hint of banana and it finishes on the short side. I’m not sure this knows what it wants to be. 84pts
2011 Quinta dos Bageiras
50/50 Maria Gomes and Bical,
Fermented in 2500 liter wood barrel, on indigenous yeasts then aged in 1000 liter barrels where it is allowed to oxidize a bit.
Waxy on the nose with gorgeous sage, citrus oil and faint vegetal and chalk aromas that are framed with hints of leather and pork fat. Bright on entry and with great fruit early on the medium bodied palate, this shows excellent depth of fruit, superb focus and good tension in the mouth. there’s a wave of late arriving complexity, savory and aromatic in the mouth that leads to a long, complex finish. This has excellent potential to improve in the cellar. A bit of a revelation. 92pts
2008 Bucaco Branco Reservado
Fermented in wood and one year aging, 300 liters, 100% new medium toast, Five to six thousand bottles a year
One grape from dal two from Barriada
Encruzado, Maria Gomes, Bical
An oxidative sweetness greets the nose recalling cooked white meats which leads to layers of banana, slate, and gentle dried citrus fruits on the nose. With huge acids on entry this shows lovely balance in a clean but obvious oxidative style. The oxidation adds a touch of sweetness and high toned complexity in the mouth with a little VA adding lift to the lime and tart apple flavors. The nice astringent finish shows good length with more banana and creamy almost melony fruit that shows nice depth with the oak very well integrated. There’s some Lopez de Heredia character here. 90pts
2012 Terra de Lobos
Fernão Pires Sauvignon Blanc
Floral, apple and woodsy on the nose with an orange oil to note. Medium bodied in the mouth, this shows off plenty of mandarin orange flavor with lime accents and turns lighter on the mid-palate as the acid begins to assert itself through the buffering material here leaving this with a lightly creamy texture with nice tart flavors that show a bit of pineapple and a bit of lime pith on moderately long finish. 86pts
Fernão Pires
2012 Quinta do Casal Branco
100% Fernão Pires
Very mineral, floral, and almost Gruner like on the nose with aromas of green fruits and even a hint of white pepper. A bit low on the palate though with plenty of acid and a nice deep chalky mineral vein embedded in fairly intense bitter apple and pineapple flavors. There’s nice length to the fine golden fruit flavors that show a faint persistent pithy note and a hint of raw nut and mandarin orange on the fairly long finish. 88pts
2012 Quinta do Casal Branco Falcoaria
100%Fernão Pires
Half barrel fermented then aged for six months in wood.
Mineral and tropical on the nose with aromas of citrus fruits framed with a little almond cream. On entry this turns quite floral in the mouth in a very elegant, clear and precise style that shows great cut and almost salty minerality. Flavors of apple with clear lemon juice accents dominate the mid palate along with very subtle wood tones that lead to a finish which gains a bit of a spicy undertone. This feels young and I bet it improves over the short term but it’s already fabulous. 91pts