External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2016 and 2019 (based on 4 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.1 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 29 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Gianni13 on 7/19/2019 & rated 89 points: Much more interesting than when initial purchased. Should be good for a few more years. (1185 views) | | | Tasted by Ecb1456 on 5/15/2019 & rated 89 points: Crisp with pears and melon. Warms to a little green apple. Dry finish. Complements fish to perfection. (1586 views) | | | Tasted by fredfta on 1/9/2019 & rated 91 points: Clássico alentejano produzido com Antão Vaz, Arinto e Roupeiro e amadurecido por 6m em barricas francesas e americanas.
Visual amarelo claro com matizes douradas. Aromas de frutas brancas e tropicais, casca de laranja, notas lácteas e amadeiradas. No palato é um vinho envolvente, untuoso, de textura aveludada. Acidez gastronômica e final longo, redondo e guloso.
Consistente safra após safra, esse alentejano jamais decepciona. (1275 views) | | | Tasted by Ran-Dom-Perignon on 1/4/2019: Nose: sea breeze, floral, lemon juice, fresh peach
Medium body, Medium length,
Palate: lemon, peach, slight bread (704 views) | | | Tasted by Lype on 1/4/2019 & rated 88 points: Herbal notes, artificial sweeteners, light fruitiness, bread, offers less flavours than -17 or -15. (1250 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 1/4/2019 & rated 89 points: A blend of Antão Vaz, Arinto and Roupeiro. Short pre-fermentation skin contact. Fermented and aged for 6 months in a combination of stainless steel and new French and American oak barrels. Bottled in May 2017. 13,5% alcohol, 1,8 g/l residual sugar, 6,0 g/l acidity. pH 3,15.
Rather neutral, lipid pale green color. Rather dry and restrained nose with aromas of mealy red apples, some bread crust, a little bit of dried Mediterranean herbs and a hint of mango. The wine is full-bodied, dry and balanced on the palate with bright flavors of creamy oak, ripe peachy fruit, some sweet toasty wood tones, a little bit of passion fruit, light mineral notes of chalky bitterness and a hint of floral complexity. The finish is juicy and moderately long with flavors of creaminess, some passion fruit, a little bit of mango and pineapple, light toasted oak notes, a sharp hint of Granny Smith apple and a mineral touch of chalky bitterness.
A nice and sophisticated vintage of Esporão Reserva Branco showing some restraint. The nose here might be even a bit too restrained, coming across somewhat closed and lacking the typical intensity and complexity of Reserva Branco, but on the palate the wine is wonderfully poised and harmonious. In a vertical of Esporão Branco Reserva 2017-2009 this wine felt noticeably less ripe and weighty than the surrounding vintages 2017 and 2015, which translated to both less intensity and complexity, but also better freshness and drinkability. All in all, a nice effort, but ultimately nothing too memorable - at least this young. Might become more interesting with some age. (1331 views) | | | Tasted by fredfta on 11/3/2018 & rated 91 points: Branco elegante e estruturado.
Mescla de Antão Vaz, Arinto e Roupeiro. 6m de barricas f/a.
Visual amarelo claro com tons esverdeados.
Aromas de frutas brancas e cítricas, depois leves notas minerais e amadeiradas.
Em boca tem acidez afiada, boa textura e volume, certo amanteigado e final persistente.
Um branco capaz de encarar pratos mais densos, deu muito boa liga com um fettuccine ao molho de grana padano e sálvia, com camarões salteados.
Faz jus ao selo de qualidade da inquestionável Esporão. (551 views) | | | Tasted by PMJak11 on 7/14/2018 & rated 92 points: Went great with the best cheese & charcuterie board in London! Was crisp, deep, and a perfect amount of tartness. Filled with minerals and citrus fruit, with just a hint of oak. Very well structured. (603 views) | | | Tasted by isaacjamesbaker on 6/8/2018 & rated 89 points: Alentejo Trip; 6/3/2018-6/8/2018: Loving the creaminess but still fresh. Went really well with some local clams in white wine butter sauce. (1119 views) | | | Tasted by isaacjamesbaker on 6/6/2018 & rated 89 points: Alentejo Trip; 6/3/2018-6/8/2018: Big and buttery on the nose with plump pears and honey. Full-bodied but fresh with chunky pineapple and pears but fresh and floral, too. 30% barrel-fermented with lees stirring, a blend of Antão Vaz, Arinto, Roupeiro. (965 views) | | | Tasted by eric lemieux on 4/11/2018 & rated 89 points: Excellent Q/P ***$ (755 views) | | | Tasted by msimoes on 3/6/2018 & rated 91 points: Have had multiple cases of this wine from prior vintages (it is my year-round food pairing white) and am loving this 2016. Perfect balance bw acidity, freshness and a little fizz. Prior vintages I struggled to drink on their own (despite still great pairing w food) but this one is much more approachable. Wonderful! Solid QPR. (723 views) | | | Tasted by Rahsaan_Kirk on 2/24/2018: bien aimé, plutôt boisé et gras et un brin minéral. Très bien. (686 views) | | | Tasted by Keith Cooper on 8/21/2017 & rated 87 points: Gold/yellow colour. It's had 6 months in oak and this shows on the nose, along with a light lemony character. In the glass, it's lively, almost a spritz about it. Medium bodied, creamy. Definitely has the influence of Aussie David Badenhorst. I like it. (683 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Herdade do Esporão Producer websiteWhite Blend"White blend" means the wine is made from a blend of two or more different white varieties - or in some cases a blend of pink or red varieties that are vinified white, ie. without any skin contact.
A blend of Antao, Arinto, Rouperio. Portugal ViniPortugal (Associação Interprofissional para a Promoção dos Vinhos Portugueses/Portuguese Wine Trade Association)AlentejanoAbout Alentejo wine
Alentejo is a Portuguese wine region located in the southern half of the country. The region covers about a third of the country but is sparsely populated. Alentejo hosts 21.970 hectares (54,289 acres) under vine, accounted for by 263 wine wineries and 97 dealers. It stands for 20% of the total Portuguese wine production of certified wine. The focus is on strong identity wines.
Wine designations
The entire region is entitled to use the Vinho Regional Alentejano designation for wine with Protected Geographical Indication, whereas some areas are also classified at the higher hierarchy Protected Designation of Origin level under the designation DOC Alentejo.
Quality wine regions
There are eight sub regions of the Alentejo region that are entitled to the DO Alentejo designation. The names of the sub regions may be indicated on the label together with the name Alentejo, for example as Alentejo/Borba:
Borba
Évora
Granja Amareleja
Moura
Portalegre
Redondo
Reguengos de Monsaraz
Vidigueira
Grape Varieties of the Alentejo
Aragonez (Red) - (aka Tempranillo) It makes rich and lively red wines that combine both elegance and robustness with plentiful berry fruit and spicy flavor. It's an early budding and ripening variety. It adapts well to different climates and soils, although it prefers hot and dry climates, the typical Alentejo condition.
Trincadeira (Red) - Rich in color, with good acidity and well balanced, Trincadeira makes wines of serious quality. It has vibrant scents of raspberry tempered by herby, peppery, spicy and floral complexity. It performs quite well in the Alentejo hot and dry weather where it really shines.
Alicante Bouschet (Red) - Alicante Bouschet is so deeply rooted in the Alentejo collective soul that it is often understood to be of Portuguese breed. It provides fully concentrated, deeply colored red wines with plenty of structure, firmness, tannins and color. Alicante Bouschet is rarely bottled as a single variety wine being perfect as a blending tool reinforcing its image as a structuring grape that yields pungently hearty wines.
Antão Vaz (White)- Alentejo white variety “signature grape”. Well suited to the warm and sunny climate of the Alentejo, reliable, productive and consistent. It delivers firm, full-bodied, well-structured wines. It has lively aromas of ripe tropical fruits, tangerine peel and a mineral zest along with good structure and full body. If picked early wines will show vibrant aromas and crisp acidity. Left to ripen longer it can reach high levels of alcohol making it a good candidate for barrel maturation.
Roupeiro (White)- The most-planted white grape in the Alentejo. In its younger stage Roupeiro is exuberantly aromatic with citrus and floral aromas, hints of peach, melon and bay. It does better in the cooler pockets of the Alentejo.
Vintage breakdown
The 2014 vintage – A challenging vintage that paid
The viticultural year was challenging to start with. Every month saw rainfall that was significantly lower than average but the rains of the last three months of the previous year were crucial in establishing the water levels deep down. The warm weather in the spring encouraged oidium and mildew. Substantial damage was caused to localized vineyards across the Alentejo to those who were not careful. To add to these difficulties June bought some hail storms followed a sudden burst of intense heat. Thankfully July was only moderately warm. On August a large storm blew in carrying heavy rain greedily absorbed by the vines. A few other bonus rains soon came in with a bit of unset weather. Summer was the most fresh since memory. Maturation went perfect whilst acidity kept comfortably high. Cooling the must was essential in order to get the right fermentation temperature curve.
.
The 2013 vintage – An excellent Vintage
Just like everywhere in Portugal mainland this year’s winter in Alentejo proved to be one of the wettest since the earliest records with rain settling in for nearly three full months. After two consecutive draught years rain was actually very much welcomed helping to replenish water levels at the vineyards. After a very long wet period came an also long period of dryness, intensified by an exceptionally warm summer with temperatures climbing up to 45ºC in wide parts of Alentejo. Unlike other regions in Portugal where there was a timely dousing for a short period Alentejo didn’t get any rain to speak of since spring. Sure enough rain came in late September and the unsettled weather persisted for nearly two weeks. Some grape varieties did naturally register a drop in sugar readings at this stage and in the lower-lying and more enclosed vineyards careful work was needed by the pickers and on the sorting tables. Early October the fine dry weather returned accompanied by a healthy wind that dried the vines and the top soil. In this phase pickers started harvesting the late varieties which gave berries in very good condition. Some excellent wines are to be expected, especially from old vineyards.
The 2012 vintage – Typical Alentejo panache
Early summer months were quite hot and dry in the Alentejo even though August mornings were fresh and humid. The mild summer resulted in slow maturation and the harvest in the Alentejo started later than usual. Whilst there has been a slight decrease in quantity this year, overall results were pretty gratifying with good quality and homogeneous maturation within the bunch. Vintage 2012 was a dry year, which has had more impact in the size of the berries as opposed to the number of bunches as it was partly mitigated through irrigation. Wines on the whole managed to get good color, good phenolics and high alcohol potential. Alicante Bouschet fared pretty well with excellent varietal definition stating it as the key variety in Alentejo. Trincadeira and Aragonez (two of the most important native red varieties) performed very well but the biggest surprise came from Castelão, the jack of all trades of Alentejo, with excellent color and acidity.
The 2011 vintage – Classical in style
Spring was wet and warm filling most of the damns near to overflowing, meaning a reduction in quantity due to attacks of mildew in some areas. The summer growing season was warm and without great heat spikes, ongoing warm and dry throughout the harvest months. May was the hottest in Portugal since records began with tropical nights and temperatures up to +3º above normal. The result was perfect weather for the grapes to reach optimum phenolic maturation. With the exception of only one brief wet interlude in the first days of September, the clement summer weather lasted throughout the harvest months, well into late October turning 2011 into one the best ever vintages.
The 2010 vintage – Definitely worth the Struggle
From October 2009 to September 2010 it rained nearly four times the Alentejo average turning it into the wettest winter since 1870. Soils were replenished to overflowing. Winter and spring were wet and cold, and heralded a delayed growing season, with the vineyard running up to two weeks behind schedule. The conditions were ideal for mildew making it a difficult growing season. Afterwards summer was set by a series of summer heat waves. June, July and August were the hottest on record. For more than 50 out of 90 days temperatures were over 35ºC, with a record number of tropical nights when minimum temperatures stayed over 20ºC. The high temperatures caused the vines to shut down, affecting some varieties. With the exception of a few inclement days, harvest weather was close to perfect with sunshine and warm weather. Trincadeira stood up well to the high temperatures.
AlentejoAbout Alentejo wine
Alentejo is a Portuguese wine region located in the southern half of the country. The region covers about a third of the country but is sparsely populated. Alentejo hosts 21.970 hectares (54,289 acres) under vine, accounted for by 263 wine wineries and 97 dealers. It stands for 20% of the total Portuguese wine production of certified wine. The focus is on strong identity wines.
Wine designations
The entire region is entitled to use the Vinho Regional Alentejano designation for wine with Protected Geographical Indication, whereas some areas are also classified at the higher hierarchy Protected Designation of Origin level under the designation DOC Alentejo.
Quality wine regions
There are eight sub regions of the Alentejo region that are entitled to the DO Alentejo designation. The names of the sub regions may be indicated on the label together with the name Alentejo, for example as Alentejo/Borba:
Borba
Évora
Granja Amareleja
Moura
Portalegre
Redondo
Reguengos de Monsaraz
Vidigueira
Grape Varieties of the Alentejo
Aragonez (Red) - (aka Tempranillo) It makes rich and lively red wines that combine both elegance and robustness with plentiful berry fruit and spicy flavor. It's an early budding and ripening variety. It adapts well to different climates and soils, although it prefers hot and dry climates, the typical Alentejo condition.
Trincadeira (Red) - Rich in color, with good acidity and well balanced, Trincadeira makes wines of serious quality. It has vibrant scents of raspberry tempered by herby, peppery, spicy and floral complexity. It performs quite well in the Alentejo hot and dry weather where it really shines.
Alicante Bouschet (Red) - Alicante Bouschet is so deeply rooted in the Alentejo collective soul that it is often understood to be of Portuguese breed. It provides fully concentrated, deeply colored red wines with plenty of structure, firmness, tannins and color. Alicante Bouschet is rarely bottled as a single variety wine being perfect as a blending tool reinforcing its image as a structuring grape that yields pungently hearty wines.
Antão Vaz (White)- Alentejo white variety “signature grape”. Well suited to the warm and sunny climate of the Alentejo, reliable, productive and consistent. It delivers firm, full-bodied, well-structured wines. It has lively aromas of ripe tropical fruits, tangerine peel and a mineral zest along with good structure and full body. If picked early wines will show vibrant aromas and crisp acidity. Left to ripen longer it can reach high levels of alcohol making it a good candidate for barrel maturation.
Roupeiro (White)- The most-planted white grape in the Alentejo. In its younger stage Roupeiro is exuberantly aromatic with citrus and floral aromas, hints of peach, melon and bay. It does better in the cooler pockets of the Alentejo.
Vintage breakdown
The 2014 vintage – A challenging vintage that paid
The viticultural year was challenging to start with. Every month saw rainfall that was significantly lower than average but the rains of the last three months of the previous year were crucial in establishing the water levels deep down. The warm weather in the spring encouraged oidium and mildew. Substantial damage was caused to localized vineyards across the Alentejo to those who were not careful. To add to these difficulties June bought some hail storms followed a sudden burst of intense heat. Thankfully July was only moderately warm. On August a large storm blew in carrying heavy rain greedily absorbed by the vines. A few other bonus rains soon came in with a bit of unset weather. Summer was the most fresh since memory. Maturation went perfect whilst acidity kept comfortably high. Cooling the must was essential in order to get the right fermentation temperature curve.
.
The 2013 vintage – An excellent Vintage
Just like everywhere in Portugal mainland this year’s winter in Alentejo proved to be one of the wettest since the earliest records with rain settling in for nearly three full months. After two consecutive draught years rain was actually very much welcomed helping to replenish water levels at the vineyards. After a very long wet period came an also long period of dryness, intensified by an exceptionally warm summer with temperatures climbing up to 45ºC in wide parts of Alentejo. Unlike other regions in Portugal where there was a timely dousing for a short period Alentejo didn’t get any rain to speak of since spring. Sure enough rain came in late September and the unsettled weather persisted for nearly two weeks. Some grape varieties did naturally register a drop in sugar readings at this stage and in the lower-lying and more enclosed vineyards careful work was needed by the pickers and on the sorting tables. Early October the fine dry weather returned accompanied by a healthy wind that dried the vines and the top soil. In this phase pickers started harvesting the late varieties which gave berries in very good condition. Some excellent wines are to be expected, especially from old vineyards.
The 2012 vintage – Typical Alentejo panache
Early summer months were quite hot and dry in the Alentejo even though August mornings were fresh and humid. The mild summer resulted in slow maturation and the harvest in the Alentejo started later than usual. Whilst there has been a slight decrease in quantity this year, overall results were pretty gratifying with good quality and homogeneous maturation within the bunch. Vintage 2012 was a dry year, which has had more impact in the size of the berries as opposed to the number of bunches as it was partly mitigated through irrigation. Wines on the whole managed to get good color, good phenolics and high alcohol potential. Alicante Bouschet fared pretty well with excellent varietal definition stating it as the key variety in Alentejo. Trincadeira and Aragonez (two of the most important native red varieties) performed very well but the biggest surprise came from Castelão, the jack of all trades of Alentejo, with excellent color and acidity.
The 2011 vintage – Classical in style
Spring was wet and warm filling most of the damns near to overflowing, meaning a reduction in quantity due to attacks of mildew in some areas. The summer growing season was warm and without great heat spikes, ongoing warm and dry throughout the harvest months. May was the hottest in Portugal since records began with tropical nights and temperatures up to +3º above normal. The result was perfect weather for the grapes to reach optimum phenolic maturation. With the exception of only one brief wet interlude in the first days of September, the clement summer weather lasted throughout the harvest months, well into late October turning 2011 into one the best ever vintages.
The 2010 vintage – Definitely worth the Struggle
From October 2009 to September 2010 it rained nearly four times the Alentejo average turning it into the wettest winter since 1870. Soils were replenished to overflowing. Winter and spring were wet and cold, and heralded a delayed growing season, with the vineyard running up to two weeks behind schedule. The conditions were ideal for mildew making it a difficult growing season. Afterwards summer was set by a series of summer heat waves. June, July and August were the hottest on record. For more than 50 out of 90 days temperatures were over 35ºC, with a record number of tropical nights when minimum temperatures stayed over 20ºC. The high temperatures caused the vines to shut down, affecting some varieties. With the exception of a few inclement days, harvest weather was close to perfect with sunshine and warm weather. Trincadeira stood up well to the high temperatures.
|
|
