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Oporto 20 Year White Port Quinta de Santa Eufêmia NJ
Tasting Notes: Not as widely appreciated, this incarnation of tawny port is made from thirty and forty year old vines -vineyards planted to 5 or 6 different traditional white varieties (includin... g Donzelinho Branco, Sercial, Folgasao and Verdelho). Velvety on the palate, the 20-year-old is full of dried apricot, honeycomb and toasted almond aromas and flavors. Excellent with rich cheeses. Read More
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The Quinta de Santa Eufemia covers 45 hectares of steep hillside vineyards in the Duoro. Esteblished in 1864 by Bernardo Rodrigues de Carvalho, the estate is now in the hands of the fourth generation; seven great-grandchildren who have managed the estate as a family business since 1994. They farm without herbicides, and the harvesting of the vines is entirely by hand. The grapes are still worked the old traditional way - by foot, and fermented in cement vats. Ageing is in large oak casks.The region’s intense, sweet wines are produced by arresting fermentation with the addition of the aguardente (distilled, neutral grape spirits), which both raises the alcohol, and keeps the wine from fermenting to dryness.
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Port came about as a result of the 17th Century trade wars between France and England; William lll imposed punitive levels of taxation on French wines, which drove English wine merchants to Portugal - which at the time, shared friendly relations with the British. In order to guarantee the "goods" arrived in drinkable condition, brandy was added to stabilize the wines. In 1678, the method of adding brandy to the fermenting wine (rather than after fermentation) provided a distinctly new style of deeply colored, red wine that retained it's sweetness. In 1756, in order to maintain quality (not to mention a monopoly on production) the government of Portugal instituted Europe's first legal definitions of "place of origin," and allowable winemaking practices.
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The sweet, fortified wines of Oporto in Portugal may be produced form as many as eighty-two of different grapes. For the red ports, the most famous grape is Touriga Nacional, which is sometimes bottled separately. Five of the more important red varieties are, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão and Tinta Amarela. The best white ports are produced from Donzelinho branco, Sercial, Folgasão, Gouveio branco, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato branco, Viosinho, and Verdelho.
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Roquefort or other blue-veined cheeses, and shelled walnuts are wonderful with this wine.
