PRESS

93 pts, Wine Enthusiast, January 2018

GRAPE VARIETIES

Viosinho, Gouveio and Arinto

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

You can drink this now or cellar it for up to 5 years. It is a gastronomic wine that goes well with food especially fish, seafood, white meat or strong cheeses such as São Jorge from the Ilhas of the Azores. 

TASTING NOTES

On the nose, very delicate and subtle where the mineral component dominates together with white fruit and floral impressions.  On the palate, the wine is elegant, full of energy and complexity.  Despite its richness and complexity, it is the wine’s fresh structure that stands out as being the most obvious characteristic of this wine.  Its excellent acidity gives the wine great length and a wonderfully clean finish.

PRODUCTION NOTES

The fabulous quality of the grapes this year has taken everyone by surprise. We didn’t have the ideal meteorological conditions to indicate it was going to be a great year so we were really pleased with the beautiful grapes that came into the winery. The winter and spring was dry with little rain. Stable weather allowed for good flowering so production was always forecast to be abundant (good news after two relatively small years). The summer was hot. There was little rain and few storms, apart from a huge one in May. So by August the vines were under intense water stress and their leaves were browning – especially younger vines with shallower roots. But the good news was that the fruit stood up well to this stress so that almost perfect grape came into the winery. The vintage was long and slow. Jorge always says that the most important decision he makes every year is when to pick and this year wasn’t that easy. We started picking the white grapes early, in the middle of August. Jorge is extremely pleased with the white wines this year

QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENT

We practice a sustainable agricultural regime being part of ADVID & SATIVA.  We don’t use genetically modified organisms nor do we use animal products so vegetarians can drink our wines.  We recycle where possible and are HACCP & BRC rated.

MATURATION AND BOTTLING

The wine was fermented and matured in French oak barrels for six months.  Once bottled the wine was cellared for a further 18 months before being launched onto the market.  Bottled in May 2016.

BACKGROUND

This is the first time we have launched a “Top of the Range” white wine.  We decided to name it after Tim Bergqvist, who decided to ‘relaunch’ Quinta de la Rosa onto the market with his daughter, Sophia, in 1988.  The label was drawn by Mark Weaver, Sophia’s son and one of Tim’s grandsons.