Expert’s Choice: Portuguese whites

The best of Portugal’s white wines fuse tradition and modernity, says Sarah Ahmed, who recommends her favourite new releases from recent trade tastings

By Sarah Ahmed The country’s best wines fuse tradition and modernity, highlighting the many diverse terroirs and native grapes

IT IS nO coincidence that, bar one (niepoort Redoma), all my recommended Portuguese white wines were first made this century. As they say, timing is everything. Portugal’s whites were once dull and oxidative but, unlike the country’s reds, they escaped relatively unscathed from the late 20th century’s ‘wood means good’ trend. In consequence, Portuguese white wines have come of age during an era that prizes freshness, restraint and intrinsic personality, emphasising the country’s diverse terroir and native grapes, not winemaking artefact.

While a southerly latitude gives rise to hot summers, the Atlantic influence and high elevation in Portugal’s mountainous hinterland preserve the scintillating acidity which distinguished my selections from Vinho Verde, Lisboa, the Azores, Bairrada, Dão and Douro. new-wave examples from Beira Interior and Alentejo’s Portalegre sub-region (both mountainous) and tiny, coastal Lisboa DOPs Colares and Bucelas are worth seeking out too.

Modern viticulture and winemaking have helped to preserve aromatics, fruit and freshness in warmer areas and, countrywide, to drastically improve entry-level

whites (Vinho Verde the example par excellence). But the wow factor that defined my highest-scoring wines comes from a classy fusion of modernity and tradition.

Take modern Douro whites, which subvert the received wisdom that A-grade Douro vineyards are the best. Maybe for Port, but leading whites come from the higher Douro vineyards on classic schist, with additional granite. Tradition is honoured by focusing on old white Port field-blend (varietally mixed) vineyards. Similarly, with modern winemaking techniques, rare Azorean native grapes that were once dedicated to late harvest/ fortified production have proved remarkably well suited to making explosively mineral dry whites.

Reviving tradition, old-fashioned cement tanks, talha (amphora) or toneis (large, old wooden barrels) as well as stainless steel or barriques, enhance complexity via controlled oxidation and reducing oak influence. Pre-fermentation skin contact builds texture, structure and complexity, while fermenting on skins adds a spicy dimension. My top-scorer, Quinta dos Carvalhais Branco Especial, represents the boldest fusion of all. It is a blend of grapes from three different vintages that age up to 10 years in old barrels (the French varieties included are the only ‘foreigners’ in my selection here).

Typically made on an artisanal scale, you’re unlikely to find any of the following 18 wines or their ilk in the supermarket. But with a run of strong vintages (2015 to 2017), these memorable wines are being snapped up by sommeliers and independent retailers.

With limited track record, will they age? The pursuit of freshness and structure is paying dividends and some recommendations here may deserve higher scores with bottle age (I excluded Herdade do Rocim’s Olho de Mocho Reserva Antão Vaz because the current 2016 release has yet to show the complexity I am sure will come). The future looks bright for Portuguese whites! Sarah Ahmed aka The Wine Detective, is DWWA Regional Chair for Portugal