Winemakers Sandra Tavares da Silva and Jorge Serôdio Borges are a married couple — I first wrote about them for a Valentine’s Day story for Serious Eats. They farm a 57-year-old vineyard near Pinhão, and this wine is a field blend of native Portuguese grapes Viosinho, Rabigato, Códega do Larinho, and Gouveio. The fruit is de-stemmed, pressed, and fermented at low temperature in French oak barrels, fifteen percent new, and the wine ages six months, with bâtonnage, before bottling.
It is saturated yellow with a scent that’s both floral and woodsy: birch bark and apple blossoms. Medium weight with nice acidity, the wine offers flavors of quince paste and baked pears, plus a lift of brushy herbs at the finish. It’s a good accompaniment to aged goat cheeses, fish and shellfish, risotto, and roasted poultry.
2018 Wine & Soul Guru Vinho Branco Douro
12.5% abv | $37 (sample) Imported by Winebow/Mundovino
