Portuguese Premium Tasting Selection #1

We have chosen an awesome selection of wines from Portugal’s leading modern winemakers:

(AM22VVB) Antonio Madeira Dão Vinhas Velhas Branco 2022 Biodynamic (Normally $95 / Bottle). #No1. James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Portugal 2024. Aromas of flint, peaches, citrus and salt. Intense and energetic, the palate is medium- to full-bodied, with rich and enveloping flavors. Simultaneously precise and vibrant. Textured and layered with great persistence. Incredible harmony. This is a blend of cerceal, encruzado, bical, siria, fernao pires and others of around 50 to 100 years old. The wine ferments in a combination of tanks (70%) and barriques. It then ages for one year in 500-liter French oak and around another year in stainless steel. This wine completes malolactic fermentation. The vineyards are biodynamic. One of the great wines of the region. Drink now or hold. 96 Points

(AVG22BR) Adega Viúva Gomes Malvasia Branco DOC Colares 2022 500ml (Normally $110 / Bottle). #No2. James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Portugal 2025. This has a lovely nose of quince, melon, lemons and flowers. The palate is delicate and nuanced but also precise, focused, really elegant and detailed, with subtle density and good concentration throughout. Such a unique and refined personality. This comes from about 5 lots of ungrafted malvasia vines. Drink or hold. 96 Points

(LS22XCB) Luis Seabra Xisto Cru Branco 2022 Organic (Normally $110 / Bottle).#No73. James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Portugal 2025. A stony and minerally white with chamomile and hints of pears. The palate is concentrated and flavorful with fresh acidity. It’s layered and textured, with the inherent austerity that characterizes this type of wine in its youth. From a 90-year-old single vineyard planted mostly with rabigato in Douro Superior. Delicious already, but will improve with bottle age. Drink or hold. 96 Points 

(PW22NCBT) Pato & Wouters Nossa Calcario Baga Tinto 2022 Biodynamic (Normally $101 / Bottle). #No2. James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Portugal 2024. A pure baga made from really old vines, with a complex bouquet of cherries, violets, smoke and a touch of mixed herbs. This has incredible balance, combining concentration with fresh acidity and a subtle saline touch. Shows firm tannins and a chewy, concentrated finish. This is made from three 100- to 140-year-old vineyards planted on clay and limestone soil. The grapes are partially destemmed and fermented in open wood lagares. Aged for 12 to 18 months in 500- and 1,500-liter used oak barrels From biodynamically grown grapes. Demeter and Ecocert certified. Great now, but will improve over the next few years. Drink or hold. 95 Points

(AM19APT) Antonio Madeira Dão A Palheira Tinto 2019  Biodynamic (Normally $92 / Bottle). 2019 was a good year with fresh and ripe grapes. 2019 was also our second vintage in biodynamics. A Palheira 2019 is a blend of 3 of the best old vineyards cultivated by Antonio. The wines of these vines where so good in 2019 that we decided to bottle it separately from the others old vineyards that usually goes to the blend of « Vinhas Velhas » red wine. So A Palheira 2019 shows the best results that we achieve in 2019 reds. Named after the small building for tools in the vineyard, as opposed to a grand Château. It’s a special blend from various single plots. It’s a premier cru where the single vineyards are grand cru and the vinhas velhas is village. Lots of Baga in this. 2017 Vintage: Liquorice and flowers, ripe and inviting, stony and spicy, red and black fruits. Medium to full-bodied, fine glassy and mineral acidity and then a mass of shale-like tannin, ferrous and firm, cherry and raspberry, chalky open-knit tannin on a long finish. Distinctive. Beautiful wine. You could twist my arm for 96 points.

(CR19DT) Carlos Raposo Definido Tinto 2019 Organic (Normally $110 / Bottle). Cherry, ripe raspberry, white pepper, black liquorice and mint, a coverlet of baking spice oak. It’s medium-bodied, has something of a stony feel to it, quite juicy and floral, cherry and dried cranberry, a bit silty too, with some dried herb and a ‘mineral’ character to acidity. and a finish of fine length. This is so interesting, and well, it’s also just so good to drink. And I love liquorice. Recommended.              93 Points The Winefront. Gary Walsh