Luis Seabra Xisto Ilimitado Branco 2017, Douro Valley, Portugal 🇵🇹

🍇 Rabigato 50%

🍇 Códega 20%

🍇 Gouveio 15%

🍇 Viosinho 10%

🍇 Other Varietals 5%

🧐 Alcohol 13.5%

🍁 My Score 93 Points 

🔹 Alluring nose with aromas of gooseberries, honeydew melon, citrus fruit and mineral notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied with a beautiful purity of fruit and fresh acidity. The finish is very elegant with refreshing flavours of stone and citrus fruits, honey and underlying mineral notes.

🔸 I must admit that I had never heard of these varietals before. Have you?  This is a flavourful, well crafted, elegant blend.  A beautiful purity of fruit, with an underlying minerality throughout, combining both freshness and complexity. It’s love at first sip. Awesome wine experience my wine friends 🙂

Luís Seabra Xisto Ilimitado 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal 🇵🇹

🍇 A field blend from Touriga Franca, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Roriz, Rufete, Tinta Barroca, Malvasia               Preta & Donzelinho Tinto

🧐 Alcohol 12.5%

🍁 My Score 92 Points 

🧩 Whole clustered fermentation, indigenous yeast and aged for 22 months in used French oak.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Exquisite nose with aromas of black cherries, blueberries, plums, violets and forest floor notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, flavourful with slightly dusty tannins and lively acidity. The finish is medium-long, slightly tangy with flavours of red and blue fruit, white pepper and fine mineral notes.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

What a delicious wine experience! Such an interesting, unique wine. At first, the aromatics felt like a Pinot but the mouthfeel was more like texture of Nebbiolo. Such an interesting wine, thank you @premiumportugalwines  for this delicious recommendation. I picked up this gem Cork & Barrel Spirits Merchant here in Victoria.  Beautiful wine boutique with a great selection and friendly, knowledgeable staff.  I will be back for more.  Load up the car!  🙂 Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Quinta Do Vale Meão Meandro 2014, Douro Valley, Portugal 🇵🇹

🍇 Touriga Nacional 40%
🍇 Touriga Franca 30%
🍇 Tinta Roriz 20%
🍇 Tinta Barroca 5%
🍇 Tinto Cão 3%
🍇 Sousão 2%

🧐 Alcool 14%

🍁 My Score 91 Points

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Attractive and inviting nose with aromas of ripe berry fruit, plums, black cherries, dried violets, chocolate, leather and tobacco notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, flavourful with a velvet texture, smooth tannins and refreshing acidity. The finish is long with flavours of blueberries, plums, vanilla and chocolate.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

This was not my first experience with this wine but it always felt that I was opening them to early. This bottle was purchased on January of 2018 and the added months in bottle has given this wine incredible aromatics texture and great flavours. I have been enjoying wine for thirty years, so I really enjoy wines like this one, which is so different, that it stands out from most wines on today’s wine shelves. Look at all those interesting varietals! Strongly recommended Cheers my wine friends 🍷

Porca de Murça Reserva Tinto 2010, Doc Douro, Portugal

We all love a bargain and this is the real deal, made with native Portuguese grapes (Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca) with alcohol coming in at 13%.

This wine opened up with a fragrant bouquet of ripe cherries/blackberry fruit, vanilla, smoky and spicy notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied and nicely layered by a rich combination of fruit, gentle wood spices, lively acidity and wonderful structured, slightly chewy tannins. This Portuguese blend has a long, generous and flavorful finish with a nice tannic grip lingering. This is a really enjoyable, robust and great value wine, that is well structured and age worthy. Drinking beautifully now but would be an excellent addition to your cellar to be enjoyed over the next 2-4 years. Strongly recommended, score 90 points.

Purchased July 20, 2013 LCBO Vintages New Release (684753) at $17.95  

Quinta de Lubazim Grande Reserva 2008, DOC Douro, Portugal

 

 

This is the top wine, produced from this estate. A blend of 40% Touriga National, 30% Touriga Franca with the remaining 30% a mix of old-vine varietals, maturation taking place new French oak barrels of 200 and 300 litres for 12 months and alcohol comes in at 14%.

A beautiful nose on this wine, with aromas of ripe berry fruit, dried cherries, red currants, mocha, cigar box and vanilla notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied almost creamy with a rich combination of fruit, burnt sugar and spice flavours, balanced acidity and fine grained-chewy tannins. The finish is long, intensely flavourful, smooth with a texture that is pure velvet. An old world wine which is more tailored to a new world palate, with a generous fruit concentration, lots of toasty oak but well integrated at this stage. Lots of everything but no excess, a Touriga National blend that is easy to enjoy. Strongly recommended, score 90 points.

Purchased June 8, 2013 LCBO Vintages New Release (317073) at $28.95

Delaforce Touriga National 2009, DOC Douro, Portugal

 

 

Most Portuguese wines are a blend of different native grapes but this wine is made exclusively using Portugal's most famous red grape, Touriga Nacional. Maturation in French oak for 12 months and alcohol coming in at 14%.
 

This wine opened up with aromas of plum-blackberry fruit, black currants, spices, earthy and minerals notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied with a rich combination of fruit, spices and bitter chocolate, balanced acidity and firm, dusty tannins. Loads of energy, power and concentration on the finish with a nice tannic grip lingering. Very interesting to try Touriga Nacional on its own, it give you a better idea what it brings in a blend; a deeper color, Cabernet Sauvignon like power and concentration and plenty of tannins for long term ageing. Very enjoyable, score 89 points.
 

Purchased April 13, 2013 LCBO Vintages New Release (324517) at $18.95



Quinta De Ventozelo Reserva 2009, DOC Douro, Portugal

This wine is a blend of the usual Port grapes of Touriga Nacional 60%, Tinta Roriz 20% and Touriga Franca 20%, maturation 12 months in oak and alcohol comes in at 14.5%.

This wine opened up with a very aromatic bouquet of blackberry, cherry, stewed plum-rhubarb, dried herbs, vanilla and exotic spices. On the mouthfeel, full bodied, ripe crushed berry fruit with lots of spices, fresh acidity and fine grained tannins. Very good length and smooth, velvety texture on the finish with subtle fruit flavours, light minerals and spices. Here is a very youthful, well made and flavourful wine, ready to enjoy. Strongly recommended, score 90 points.

Purchased April 13, 2013 LCBO Vintages New Release (021329) at $21.95

Aneto Red 2009, DOC Douro, Portugal

This wine is a blend of 30% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca, 30% Tinta Roriz and 10% Tinto Cão with maturation taking place in new and used French oak barrels for 12 months, bottled in May 2011 and alcohol coming in at 14.5%.

What a lovely wine of the month at Vintages. This wine opens up with a very fragrant bouquet of ripe black fruit, raisins, figs, baking spices and vanilla notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, luscious texture, balance acidity and fine chewy tannins. Very good depth and length on the finish, slightly creamy, spicy, ripe fruit concentration with a hint of minerality. Every once in a while, I have a wine and food pairing which I think is brilliant, this case was one of them. I paired this wine with a butter chicken lasagne, the settled hot spices of the dish and the fruity character of this wine made it very interesting and enjoyable. Strongly recommended, score 90 points.

Purchased February 2, 2013 LCBO Vintages New Release (314930) at $19.95

Quinta Dos Quatro Ventos Colheita 2008, Doc Douro, Portugal

This wine is a blend of traditional Port grapes (Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesca and Touriga Nacional) with maturation taking place in French and Russian oak for 1 year and alcohol coming in at 14%.

On the nose, this blend opened up with aromas of cherry, black fruit, sandalwood and, Moroccan spices. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, very youthful with ripe black fruit, balanced acidity and grainy tannins. Medium length on the finish, soft texture, almost sweet with light tannins lingering. This wine’s style is almost new world, very ripe, feels sweet even if the wine is listed as extra-dry, quite charming and easy drinking. I would buy this again, score 89 points.  

Purchased November 10, 2012 LCBO New Release (902742) at $24.95

Quinta De Ventozelo Touriga Nacional 2008, Douro, Portugal

A very interesting wine here, although for me, it doesn’t scream Portugal. I often think of Portuguese wine as being bone dry, slightly rustic which, when done right, I find them to be pretty charming. In a blind tasting, I would have most likely picked a new world country like Argentina, Australia or California as this wine was made in a more “international” style. That being said, it is a well made full bodied wine that is unlikely to disappoint.

This wine is 100% Touriga Nacional, aging took place in oak barrel for 12 months. This wine opened up with aromas of black fruit, prunes, stewed plum, mocha, dried herbs and cedar notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied (with alcohol coming in at 14%), good weight, concentrated flavours, balance acidity and firm tannins. Very nice chewy tannins on the finish with flavours of dark fruit, cedar and minerals/crushed stone type flavours lingering. This is a flavourful wine that goes down easy, I would be more than happy to drink this again. score 90 points.
 

Purchased August 4, 2012 LCBO New Release (657452) at 18.95

Quinta da Romaneira Douro 2007, Douro, Portugal

This wine is a blend of 70% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca and 5% Tinta Cão and a wine that looks very pretty in the glass with a deep ruby color. This wine opened up with aromas of dark red fruit, Asian spice, smoke and vanilla notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied (alcohol at 14%) flavours of bing cherries, blackcurrants, spices, with low acidity and fine grained tannins. This wine finish is long, tasty, juicy with good depth of flavours.  While I really enjoyed this wine, I don’t feel a sense of place with this wine. It could have been from Argentina, Australia or California, sweeter than I expected and I would have preferred a little more structure at this price. Interesting wine none the less, score 90 points. 

Purchased March 31, 2012 LCBO In-Store Discovery (218750) at $34.95 

Quinta de la Rosa Tinto 2008, Douro, Portugal

This red blend is made with traditional Port varieties, in this case Tinto Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franco from the older dry stone terraced vineyards at La Rosa. Maturation took place in Allier French oak casks for 12 months with alcohol coming in at 14.2%.

This wine opens up with aromas of ripe plums, black cherry, soft leather, floral and toasty cedar notes. On the palate, medium-full bodied, soft texture with refreshing acidity and dusty tannins. Very good length on the finish with berry fruit, white pepper and a slight sweet herbal flavours all wrapped up by fine tannins which gives it a mild dryness. A very attractive, elegant and well structured wine here, I especially like the texture of the tannins. Score 90 points. 

Purchased March 31, 2012 LCBO New Release (933101) at $19.95  

Quinta Do Vale Meão Meandro 2008, DOC Douro, Portugal

This concentrated wine is made with premium grapes usually used in the production of Port. The exact blend is  35% Touriga Franca, 25% Touriga Nacional, 25% Tinta Roriz, 5% Sousão, 5% Tinta Amarela and 5% Tinta Cao, aged in second and third year French Allier oak barriques. This wine opens up with aromas of blueberry and blackberry fruit, dried violet, leather, earthy, burnt toast , cedar and dried herb. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied (alcohol coming in at 14%), rich, yet well structured with good acidity and firm tannins. The finish is long dry with silky texture and dark fruit and earthy notes lingering. Very traditional and gorgeous wine here, and at this price, a very good value. Strongly recommended, score 91 points.

Purchased October 29, 2011 LCBO New Release (244731) at $23.95 

W & J. Graham's Quinta Dos Malvedos Vintage Port 2001, Douro, Portugal

I love Port, especially in the winter, but I do have a hard time finding Ports I like. When I do, I tend to stay with them and repurchase often. In the past I have enjoyed the Smith Woodhouse Late bottled 2001 and the always reliable Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Port, and on rare occasion the much better 20 year old. This is the third time I have opened this Port in the last couple months and this is the first opportunity I had to take a picture of the moment. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the sensuous and warm aromatics of this port with flavours of dark plums, currants, raisins, dates, fruitcake and baking spices. On the mouthfeel, full bodied with the 20% alc. It is well balanced by fresh acidity, well integrated tannins and complex flavours. This Port has great energy on the finish with fruitcake, spiced dark plums and raisin flavours followed with some alcoholic heat. This is my kind of Port, awesome stuff, score 91 points.

This Port was purchased October 1, 2011 LCBO (New Release) at $25.95 for a 375 ml bottle.     

Quinta Do Crasto Old Vines Reserva 2007, Douro, Portugal

I was introduced to this wine when they captured the number three spot on Wine Spectator top 100 of 2008 (for there 2005 vintage).Which means that this is the third vintage of this wine that I have enjoyed. The Quinta Do Crasto Reserva 2007 was made from mixed varietal planting of 70 year old low yielding old vines from a single vineyard, then spent 16 months ageing in French and American oak barrels. This wine opens up with a solid core of ripe blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, spices and vanilla. This full bodied red has rich mouthfeel, balance acidity and integrated tannins. The finish is long, tasty and savoury. But this wine sure has gone up in price over the last three years since their top 100 moment, not the great value it use to be, but a very good wine none the less.

This wine was purchased September 18, 2010 LCBO New Release at $34.95.

Quinta Dos Aciprestes Reserva 2007, Douro, Portugal

Rich and aromatic, complex nose of ripe cherry fruit, raisins, vanilla and exotic spices. This wine is medium to full body with good moderating acidity and grainy tannins. The texture is fresh and velvety. This is a modern version of Portuguese wine, which should appeal to New World wine fans. Very enjoyable.

This wine was purchased on September 18, 2010 LCBO New Release at $21.95