Review: Esporão, Monte Velho

Earlier this year, I reviewed a number of wines from the Alentejo region of Portugal and it’s time to check out another one.

This wine comes from one of largest wine producers in Portugal, Esporão and is a while blend featuring the Antão Vaz grape variety. One of the neat things about Portugal is the large number of indigenous grape varieties found in vineyards — over 250 different varieties. It provides an opportunity to try unique, different wines. And in a world where climate change is impacting vineyards around the world, it provides a rich opportunity to explore how these varieties may be useful in other parts of the world.

I’ve written before about how much I like wines from cool climate regions due to the elegance often found in those wines. But Portugal is generally a hot place. Yet with varieties such as Antão Vaz, which hold up to the heat quite well, they can still produce elegant wines. With vineyards around the world getting hotter, this variety may be of interest in other parts of the world one day. But for now, it belongs to Alentejo.

This vintage of Monte Velho comes from a year with a hot dry summer. It wasn’t extreme heat, but the heat arrived early and continued through the summer. Yields were down by about 20% due to these conditions and juice extraction was lower than normal. This resulted in more full-bodied wines than typical for white varieties.

There’s so much going on with the aromatics of this wine that it’s one of those that it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what the smells are. It’s a blend of white peach, yellow delicious apple, lemon and some perfume-like floral aromas. The palate is similar with the apple/peach/lemon flavor all smashed together followed by wet stone and saline minerals. The acidity is sufficient, although I would have liked it a touch more vibrant. The mouth feel is rich and almost oily. The finish is quite long, with lingering salt, apple and lemon flavors.

Wine: Esporão, Monte Velho
Varieties: Antão Vaz, Roupeiro and Perrum
Vintage: 2017
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 86
Average price: $12.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.