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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.3 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 28 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by AlsupHouse on 7/26/2020 & rated 91 points: Love it! (1094 views) | | | Tasted by PMJak11 on 6/14/2020 & rated 91 points: Light gold color with a greenish hue. Complex nose with apple juice, pear, vegetable tones, and minerality. Wine is big and lacks crispness. Some buttery tones and Riesling characteristics but overshadowed by the flavors found on the nose. Give this a 30 minute decant and serve colder than normal. Decent QPR because of its uniqueness. (1208 views) | | | Tasted by JayP on 5/15/2020 & rated 89 points: Unfortunately i dont recall what i paid but i think it was relatively little. So probably VGV. Enjoyed v much - going on my wish list (1251 views) | | | Tasted by oropeza on 4/4/2020: Floral nose, stone fruit and lime up front, salinity on the core and a medium-bright finish, more tang than lift. Reminds me a lot of an Alsatian or even Oregonian Pinot Gris. (1334 views) | | | Tasted by The Drunken Cyclist on 3/4/2020 & rated 89 points: Retail $22. Antão Vaz, Arinto, Roupeiro. A slight straw color in the glass with aromas of ripe tropical fruit and a dash of salinity. The palate is lush and inviting with a nice tanginess, but far from bracing, with luscious fruit that coats the mouth. Every time I open an Esporão, I am taken back to my visit to Alentejo a couple of years ago. Such a beautiful region with wonderful people and fantastic wines. thedrunkencyclist.com (1450 views) | | | Tasted by fredfta on 1/11/2020 & rated 91 points: Wip (735 views) | | | Tasted by Papies on 8/10/2019 & rated 89 points: A very good wine in all aspects , but just lacked a charming side, something that would draw you in and excite you. We have very little to fault it away from that and maybe with time it will get a bit more exciting? 88-89 for now on that basis (1219 views) | | | Tasted by Martin Redmond on 7/30/2019 & rated 89 points: A Taste of Esporao for Portugal Day: Color - Pale yellow
Aromas - Peach, apricot, honey, citrus, white flowers, and a bit of ocean spray
Body - Medium-bodied with zesty medium acidity
Taste - Ripe peach, pineapple, melon, honey, Meyer lemon, dried apricot, savory spice with an appealing saline minerality.
Finish - Medium+
14.5% abv| SRP - $12.50 per Wine-Searcher. Blend of Antao Vaz, Arinto, Roupeiro and others sourced from certified organic vineyards. Aged six months in a mix of stainless steel, and some new French and American oak. Awesome QPR! (897 views) | | | Tasted by isaacjamesbaker on 6/10/2019 & rated 88 points: Light yellow color. An interesting nose of peaches, apricot jam, glazed pear, with honeycomb, whipped butter and floral tones. Full-bodied and plump with medium acidity, and juicy apricot and glazed pear. Lots of rich notes of almond and honey comb but I also get some floral tones and an attractive salty-briny aspect. Big and delicious, but nuanced and food-friendly as well. Antao Vaz, Arinto, Roupeiro and others, aged six months in a mix of steel, and some new French and American oak. (933 views) | | | Tasted by Ran-Dom-Perignon on 1/4/2019: Nose: candied pineapple, lemongrass, honeydew melon, curry spices, apple blossom, slight oak
Full body, alcohol+, long
Palate: peach, candied pineapple, slight vanilla, melon, yellow apple (671 views) | | | Tasted by Lype on 1/4/2019 & rated 88 points: The nose is waxy, sweet and peachy, the palate delivers fresh tropical fruit and the wine gains power and fruit in the glass. Good ageing potential. (873 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 1/4/2019 & rated 85 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 2018. 14,5% alcohol, 2,2 g/l residual sugar, 6,2 g/l acidity. pH 3,2.
Youthful, pale green color. Youthful and surprisingly fruit-driven nose that reminds me quite a bit of white Sémillon-Sauvignon wines of Bordeaux. There are quite exotic aromas of pineapple, creamy oak, some passion fruit, a little bit of plantain, light caramel notes of oak, a hint of papaya and a touch of estery primary character. The wine is full-bodied, broad and quite oily on the palate with rather round and mellow mouthfeel. Rich flavors of pineapple, creaminess, peachy stone fruit, some toasted oak spice, a little bit of vanilla, light notes of golden currants, a hint of passion fruit and a touch of extracted woody bitterness. The alcohol shows quite a bit and despite the rather high acidity the wine feels quite heavy and ponderous. The finish is rich, weighty and quite concentrated with flavors of creamy oak, ripe pear and quince, some caramel tones, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness and a hint of pineapple.
A big, round and quite weighty Portuguese white that feels quite a bit like a heavy, warm-vintage Bordeaux Blanc. The oak influence would feel quite judicious otherwise, but it feels like the high alcohol has extracted a bit too much woody characteristics from the barrels, lending a somewhat too oaky and slightly bitter character to the wine - a characteristic that felt quite noticeable in a vertical of Esporão Reserva Brancos 2017-2009. The wine might benefit from some cellaring, but I really wasn't a fan of this vintage - it was just too heavy and high in alcohol for my taste. (947 views) | | | Tasted by fredfta on 9/27/2018 flawed bottle: Corte das castas Antão Vaz, Arinto e Roupeiro com estágio de 6 meses em cubas de inox e em barricas novas de carvalho francês e americano.
Visual amarelo claro brilhante. Nariz intenso, com frutas brancas e tropicais, abacaxi em destaque, depois notas lácteas, minerais e florais. Em boca é untuoso, com bom volume e estrutura, acidez marcante e final de bom curso, redondo e guloso.
Mais uma bela safra desse consistente Reserva da inquestionável Esporão. A repetir! (785 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.
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