Winemaker Notes
Very seductive and elegant wine, exhibiting white flowers, grapefruit, lime and a beautiful mineral touch. Very long on the palate with great texture and aftertaste.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The white 2022 Guru comes from a number of old vineyards, all planted with a field blend of varieties, in the village of Murça. It fermented, by vineyard, in barrels and matured in them, with only 5% new barrels (just to renew them) and a majority of 500-liter ones—a far cry from the first years of small barrel and 100% new oak. In principle, it doesn't go through malolactic fermentation, and the wine has a lot of tension and even citrus freshness, quite impressive for such a warm year. It's textured and elegant, very nicely crafted and balanced. The wine has a moderate 12.5% alcohol, meaning some plots were even lower (and some higher, of course). It's approachable now, but it should age very nicely.
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Wine Enthusiast
Showing spice and white fruits touched by minerality, this ripe wine is already delicious. It is balanced, the fruit and texture, the floral aroma and spice all coming together
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Wine Spectator
Lithe and harmonious, with a subtle tang of salinity underscoring white peach, preserved lemon, mountain herb and acacia blossom notes. Shows good drive and focus. A zesty spice detail lingers on the refreshing finish. Rabigato, Viosinho, Gouveio and Codega do Larinho. Drink now through 2027.
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James Suckling
Notes of sliced apples, lemon pith, citrus peel and crushed stones on the nose. Clean and crisp with a medium body and fresh, juicy acidity cutting through. Citrusy finish with a chalky texture.
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.