Winemaker Notes
Serve with fat fish dishes and white meats.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Branco O Fugitivo em Curtimenta is an unoaked and very dry field blend from old vines coming in at 13% alcohol. The key here is the skin contact (curtimenta). This has a darker flavor profile (and slightly darker color) than the more normal whites. It adds plenty of power—that, I find, tends to happen with this style. In power, it is almost like a red. It is velvety and precise as well. As it warms, it adds waves of flavor, leading to a conclusion that is intense both in structure and in fruit. This burly white very definitely needs food. Concentrated and gripping, this should age very well, maybe more than anticipated.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Producing some of the country’s most dignified and mineral-driven red wines, Dão is positioned in north central Portugal where granite mountains surround and shelter the region from any Atlantic maritime influence. Summers are long and warm; winters see abundant rainfall.