Spotlight
on Portugal's Dão region
Part
2: Quinta dos Roques/das Maias
The
wines
Quinta dos Roques Branco 2003
A blend of Encruzado, Cercial, Malvasia Fina and Bical. Lovely fresh
limey, minerally nose with some youthful, tanky character. Tending
towards grassy and aromatic. The palate shows lovely vivid, citrussy
fruit with great freshness. Quite a classy fresh white with good acid
and plenty of character. Very good+ 88/100
Quinta dos Roques Cercial Bical 2003
Rui says he is trying to balance two quite different varieties in this
wine. ‘Bical has good mouthfeel but no acidity, whereas Cercial has
more acidity – in some years a bit too much. Cercial is more fruity
in the nose and Bical is a little more complex.’ This wine was first
made in 2000 where the Bical was made by accident at 14.5% alcohol and
the Cercial was harvested last at 11.2%. The two barrels were then
blended. This shows lovely limey aromatic fruit with some richness and
a hint of herbiness. The palate is quite broad and fruity yet with
some freshness keeping it lively. Very good+ 89/100
Quinta dos Roques Barcelo 2003
This is probably the world’s only varietal Barcelo, and since this
was the first vintage, bottled in April 2004, João Costa and I were
the fourth and fifth people on the globe to try a varietal Barcelo.
It’s an old variety from Dão that has been forgotten, partly
because of its rather crazy growth pattern. It has as many as four
florescences in the growing season, and last year was flowering at
harvest time. Dos Roques have half a hectare. It is oak fermented in
old barrels. Complex nutty herby nose with complex floral overtones
and some lemony fruit. The palate is rich textured and full flavoured
with nuttiness and a rounded fruity character. It tastes a bit like a
Roussanne to me. Very good/excellent 91/100
Quinta das Maias Malvasia Fina 2003
Quite fine, fragile perfumed aromas, delicately floral and slightly
nutty. Expressive with pure fruit. The palate is broad and quite rich
with some elegant, slightly plump fruit. Quite a versatile wine that
is delicious and characterful. Very good/excellent 90/100
Quinta dos Roques Encruzado 2003
Some new oak is used here. Very fine nose with delicate, fresh lemony
fruit with toasty new oak. On the palate the oak isn’t quite
integrated yet with some vanilla notes sticking out, but otherwise it
is very fine. Good acidity and lovely taut lemony fruit with nice
minerality. Complex. Very good/excellent 92/100
Quinta dos Roques Tinto 2001
This was a difficult year with a rainy harvest, so no varietal red
wines were made. The nose shows cherry fruit and spices, leading to
tight, chewy herby cherry fruit on the palate. It’s savoury and
spicy with good structure – a great food wine. Very good+ 88/100
Quinta dos Roques Alfrocheiro 2000
Sweet, slightly herby fruit on the nose with tobbacoey overtones. The
palate shows a good concentration of sweet cherry and herb fruit with
high acidity. Juicy and vivid, this is appealing stuff with lovely
fruit quality and acidity. Very good/excellent 90/100
Jaen
Quinta das Maias Jaen 2000
Jaen has a mixed reputation among Dão growers, but here
they like it. It’s the same grape as the Tinta Mencia from Bierzo in
Spain. The story is that it was brought to Portugal by pilgrims
returning from Santiago de Compostela. Sweet and soft, it is the most
pleasant Dão wine grape to eat. This wine shows lovely sweet, supple,
liqouricey fruit on the nose. Pure, seamless and elegant. The palate
shows vivid, bright fruit with high acidity and some tannin. Very
juicy. Very good/excellent 91/100
Quinta das Maias Jaen 2002
Very deep coloured. On the nose there are spicy, woody notes
overlaying the pure, sweet fruit. The palate is very elegant with firm
tannin, good acidity and some herbiness. Great potential and needs
some time to settle down. Very good/excellent 92+/100 (this has been
in bottle just three months)
Touriga Nacional
Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional 2000
Slightly muted dark fruits on the nose, with a herby edge. The palate
is vivid with red and black fruits backed up by high acidity and lots
of tannin. Nice food wine but perhaps a bit too acidic? Still, very
appealing. Very good/excellent 90/100
Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional 2002
Very intense spicy, ripe nose dominated by spicy red fruits with a
chocolatey edge. There’s some toasty oak, too, but it’s quite fine
and is likely to integrate. The palate is concentrated with lovely
vivid fruit, some tannins and high acidity. This is a striking wine.
Very good/excellent 92+/100 (in bottle three months)
Quinta dos Roques Reserva 2000
A blended wine from a single old vineyard. Sweet, elegant herby/spicy
nose showing some caramel notes and red berry fruit. The palate is
open and slightly herby with juicy, spicy red fruits. Good acid and
tannin – quite elegant. Very good/excellent 90/100
Quinta das Maias Reserva 2000
Also a blend from an old vineyard. Complex nose of tight herby red
fruits with notes of chocolate, spice and caramel. The palate is spicy
and complex with good elegance and fine acidity. Some minerality here.
Good tannins. Very good/excellent 92/100
Quinta dos Roques Garrafeira 2000
Garrafeira is a traditional quality designation which dos Roques are
trying to revive with this, their flagship wine. It’s a blend of the
best barrels of the 2000 wines, and 4800 bottles were made. The nose
opens out after a bit of coaxing to show lovely aromatics: a complex
mix of layered fruits and subtle herb notes. The palate shows elegant
juicy berry fruit (summer pudding), fine-grained tannins and high
acidity. A concentrated wine with lots of character. Very
good/excellent 93/100
wines
tasted May 2004
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