The Alentejo is a hot, dry region in the southern half of Portugal which produces some spectacular wines; red, white and Rosé. For this article we had six white wines from the region made with primarily indigenous grapes, which we broke it into two parts and reviewed the first three earlier. You can read about those here.
Below we look at the remaining three white wines:
2021 Marquês de Borba Colheita White – the grapes for this wine are handpicked in the early morning to
preserve freshness. They rest in a cool chamber to bring down their temperature before being processed. Fermentation is in stainless steel tanks under controlled temperatures. It is a blend of Arinto, Antão Vaz and Viognier. Our thoughts:
The wine is a light yellow in color. There is some minerality on the nose to match the restrained fruit aromas, including citrus and white peach. It is quite fresh on the palate with bright acid. You get more fruit on the palate which leads into a long, dry finish. This is truly a mouthwatering wine. SRP is $13, and this a an excellent value there.
2021 Herdade do Esporão Colheita Branco – produced entirely from estate, organically grown grapes. 2021
was a rainy year, comparatively, with mild temperatures. The wine was partially fermented in concrete tanks. That juice was left on the lees for four months, which generally provides some additional texture and character to a white wine. This is made with Antão Vaz, Viosinho, Alvarinho, Vermentino and other grapes. What did we think?
Also a light yellow in color, this has ripe fruit on the nose but it is not overly expressive. Tropical fruits and some floral notes are present. The palate is more bold, and that fruit becomes vivid. It persists through the long finish. Toward the end it struck me as similar to Orangina in flavor and expression. The wine is really long. You definitely sense the added body and texture the time on the lees imparted. SRP is $18 and it is a good value.
2020 ROCIM Mariana White – the grapes were hand picked into small containers, and then went through cold
maceration. The juice was fermented in small capacity stainless steel tanks. Afterwards it was aged for five months in the tanks and then thee months in bottle. The blend here is Antão Vaz, Arinto and Alvarinho. Our impressions:
This is virtually identical in color to the other two wines, a light straw yellow. The nose shows ripe fruit, including some lemon. The wine has some body and is quite smooth with a long finish. This is a very enjoyable, easy drinking wine. SRP is $16 and it is another good value.
We definitely recommend becoming familiar with the wines of Alentejo. They have depth, character, beautiful fruit and also provide some pretty exceptional value.
A votre santé!
Leave a Reply