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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.