Winemaker Notes
Conceito Branco is made every year, since 2006. Fermented in used French oak barrels, is made from the best grapes from very old vineyards. It's a rich and concentrated wine, but with incredible seduction and subtlety. It ages in bottle for at least 10 years and it pairs perfectly with delicate cooking fish and seafood dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Branco, the estate flagship, is a field blend from old (centenarian) vineyards at 600 meters in altitude aged for 10 months in used French oak. Principal grapes include common Douro white grapes, like Rabigato, Códega, Códega do Larinho, Cerceal, Gouveio and others. Very dry, it also comes in with 7.1 grams of total acidity and 13.1% alcohol. This adds some depth and power to the Contraste Branco, but the ultimate styles are much the same, emphasizing elegance and freshness. Here, though, the fruit is not as exuberant, which is not surprising due to the modest increase in oak impact. The oak adds no vanilla, but it gives this a somewhat darker profile, and it finishes with more power. It's a bit pricey for the style, but it seems lovely this year, understated, precise and long on the finish.
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.
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.