Filipa Pato Bairrada Nossa Calcario Bical 2015
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The 2015 Branco Nossa Calcário is a single-vineyard Bical that looks impressive. It was aged for five months in partly (20%) new French oak and comes in at just 12% alcohol. When I first saw this in Portugal, it seemed nice but mute, not quite as impressive as I hoped it would be in this fine Branco vintage. Retasting it at home a couple of months later showed it blossoming. Now, it was suddenly intense and powerful, not to mention very concentrated for this grape. It simply fills the mouth and takes control of the palate. Laced with stones, steel and a bit of flint, this has a very earthy flavor profile. If you're looking for fruity, this probably won't be it. I was, in fact, a little concerned early on that the flinty notes were a bit too much, but it kept improving while open. With more time in the bottle, it should come into even better balance. It is worth betting on this Branco--complex, rather intense and concentrated. It may yet be entitled to an uptick if it comes around the way I suspect it will. It looks like the best white I've seen here.
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There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.