Wine & Soul Guru 2021
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
An elegant wine exhibiting grapefruit and mineral aromas and flavors warmed by oak contact. Refreshing, with a fine balance and long finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Guru is a field blend from old vines (60+ years), mostly Viosinho, Rabigato, Códega do Larinho and Gouveio, aged for eight months in 90% used French oak. It comes in very dry and at 12.3% alcohol. This has become very consistent, but I was curious to see what would happen in this 2021 vintage. The rainy harvest was less threatening to whites. Textured, silky and understated on first pour, this sensual white sits on the palate and still shows off fine fruit. In fact, it is surprisingly, if subtly, concentrated. It is by no means a fat wine (and the oak is largely irrelevant), but as it airs and warms, it still seems to show off the essence of its fruit on the finish. That said, this is still more about structure than fruit, especially today, when it is a bit monolithic. This seems very fine, with some potential for improvement. The next day it was arguably better, steelier but slightly more open. It should age very well, at least as noted, and I tend to be conservative on such things. In addition to holding, though, this will likely improve over the next few years too.
Rating: 93+ -
James Suckling
Lemons, flint, rosemary, pineapple and sea shells on the nose. Crisp and bright with a medium body and flinty minerality. Lots of energy.
-
Wine Enthusiast
A fine lemonand orange-zest flavored wine, this has a ripe balance and rich fruits. A light touch of spice gives the wine complexity and concentration.
-
Wine Spectator
A minerally white, with a salty underpinning, revealing broad, creamy flavors of ripe pear and kiwi fruit, preserved lemon and white blossoms. Yet, this is also sleek and fresh, defined by well-honed acidity.
-
Wine & Spirits
This has an old-fashioned character, like a rooty aromatized wine. It brings tangerine flavors together with the earthy bitterness of schist tannins, with oak adding sweetness in the end. The citrusy finish will work with richly sauces braises.
Other Vintages
2022-
James
Suckling
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast
- Decanter
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Enthusiast
Located in the heart of the Douro Valley, Portugal’s best-known wine region, Wine & Soul spans several picturesque vineyards. This innovative yet rustic winery was founded nearly 10 years ago by Jorge Serôdio Borges and his wife Sandra Tavares da Silva, both of whom wished to channel their extensive experience into a winery that would showcase the traditional varieties and terroir of the Douro Valley on an international level. Initially, Wine & Soul consisted of a lone vineyard, Pintas, located in the Cima Corgo's prized Pinhão Valley. Throughout the years, it expanded to include additional properties, such as the magnificent Quinta da Manoella. Parcels of 80-year-old vines are tucked into terraces carved out by dynamite a century ago. Walls built from the displaced schist border the vines, preventing erosion and enhancing the idyllic landscape. Wine & Soul has received considerable critical praise for its character-driven wines, all of which represent the exceptional terroir of the Douro region. Natural farming is prioritized, and no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides are used. Irrigation is minimal and performed only by hand, and indigenous yeasts are used for almost all fermentation. Organic certification by Sativa is pending. Due to the steep grade of the slopes and the narrow width of the terraces, all grapes must be picked by hand. The fruit is foot-trodden in granite lagares, which yields fine, silky tannins since the process is so gentle on the grapes. The wines are all aged in French barriques.
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.