For The Love Of Port

• 2017 Quinta da Fonte Souto Portalegre - Portugal, Alentejano, Alentejo, Portalegre (10/10/2019)
  This is a new wine from the Symington Family (of the Port fame) and from their newly purchased property in the Portalegre subregion of Alentejo. Had this for lunch, pop and pour, and was immediately taken back by how Burgundian this was. Lots of opulent depth to the body, citrus fruit, peaches, chalk, crisp acidity in the background balances out the depth in the body without overtaking it. The finish persists for a surprisingly long time. I was stunned at how well this showed for an apq $23 (USD) retail wine. There was some left over so I came back to it the next day at lunch to see if my earlier assessment was correct or not. I was shocked, it actually put on a little more weight and the already complex wine gained a touch more. This is perhaps the best value white I've had out of the region. While it is the first vintage, so no benchmark, this should age very well for at least 8-10 years, perhaps more. I never expected a value wine like this to show so well. 94-95 Points (95 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

For EU readers it might be usefull to know that Garrafeira Nacional sells Quinta da Fonte Souto Branco '17 for €14.70. The Tinto '17 has the same price and their topwine Fonte Souto '17 sells for €41.90. Shipment for most EU countries is free for orders of more than €150.00

This was the first time I have seen: surprisingly, shocked and stunned all within the same tasting note.

But then this helped me to understand:

This is a new wine from the Symington Family (of the Port fame).

Come on, we can use some humor around here lately!

Roy Hersh wrote:This was the first time I have seen: surprisingly, shocked and stunned all within the same tasting note.

But then this helped me to understand:

This is a new wine from the Symington Family (of the Port fame).

Come on, we can use some humor around here lately!

I put that because of Cellartracker where I also posted the note and figured most people there may not realize the connection. Not everyone is a Port nerd like us

When this was poured at lunch I asked what the retail price was, around 15-16 Euros I was told. I tasted it again and asked again because I thought the price for retail had to be wrong. Nope. While I enjoy a lot of good Douro whites, there are not many that I keep going back to even after enjoying some very nice reds. This one I did..and the next day too.

I will be opening my white and red bottles by the end of the weekend. I have had them for a while now but no chance to pay them serious focus. That will change this weekend.

So while I really liked the Branco and was stuck between 92 and 93 points ... and finally acquiesced to the higher score of 93; the Tinto was fantastic and I score it another point higher. I can only imagine this with a minimum of five more years and how good this will become. You've gotta try the red too; it is that phenomenal for the price!

I am very curious about the Portalegre region. A cooler part of the Alentejo, in the north with higher altitude. I believe Susana Estaban's vineyards are there and I really like her wines.

Roy Hersh wrote:So while I really liked the Branco and was stuck between 92 and 93 points ... and finally acquiesced to the higher score of 93; the Tinto was fantastic and I score it another point higher. I can only imagine this with a minimum of five more years and how good this will become. You've gotta try the red too; it is that phenomenal for the price!

Until now I didn't have the white (I hope to get it very shortly from GN/PT), but I already tried the red and I fully agree with Roy: it is a fantastic wine that I can recommand to everyone, especially for the price!

Roy Hersh wrote:So while I really liked the Branco and was stuck between 92 and 93 points ... and finally acquiesced to the higher score of 93; the Tinto was fantastic and I score it another point higher. I can only imagine this with a minimum of five more years and how good this will become. You've gotta try the red too; it is that phenomenal for the price!

I've had the brother red to this white. It was nice but not in the same league as this white. I have not had the upper end red, Vinha do Souto, yet. But will try it soon. Roy, Which red did you try?

The basic red, and I liked it better than the white, which was nice, but not as nice as the red for my palate. We can agree to disagree on this one.

We may disagree one which we prefer but pretty sure we agree they are both amazing values and darn good wines.

Roy Hersh wrote:The basic red, and I liked it better than the white, which was nice, but not as nice as the red for my palate. We can agree to disagree on this one.

Opps and to clarify my above post. These aren’t the basic wines. There is a basic white and red one step below these, called Florao.

Mine are identical to the one in the photo above. I will likely post mine at some point this week in IG and you can see both bottles shot against the back-splash of my copper colored kitchen "tiles". And yes, we definitely agree the QPR is cray and the quality overall, as well!

I had this wine last week. Really good. Did not stand up next to a 2016 Para Manca Branco... but what other white from Alentejo would? Very solid. Rich but amazing acidity that came in waves. Perfect with our petiscos.

David Spriggs wrote: ↑Sun Nov 17, 2019 8:27 pm I had this wine last week. Really good. Did not stand up next to a 2016 Para Manca Branco... but what other white from Alentejo would? Very solid. Rich but amazing acidity that came in waves. Perfect with our petiscos.

And what is the price difference between them