Choosing Your Top 50 Portuguese Wines?

Every year, ViniPortugal elects a UK journalist to choose their top 50 Portuguese wines. In 2010, our friend Sarah Ahmed created a fabulous list of wines and was followed up this year by an equally impressive list by Tom Cannavan.  A few days ago, the wines were announced in London at the Portuguese Ambassador’s Residence in Belgrave Square, and as much as we would have loved to attend, alas, we were celebrating from afar – but closer to the source!

Not surprisingly, a healthy chunk of the wines are sourced from the Alentejo, Douro and Dao, but we’re elated to see a few stragglers sneak their way in from lesser known regions such as the Tejo, Algarve and Colares. Admittedly, I’m still holding out that a Portuguese sparkler will find its way on the list in the future.

What’s intriguing to note is that Viniportugal ensured that every tasting brochure contained a QR code alongside each wine, allowing visitors to garner information direct from the producer and provide feedback on the tasting. This is something we’ve championed for over the past 4 years, and it’s nice to see a generic put social media into action.

Please take a minute to scan the list below, and note that we’ve broken the list down by region and have provided a link to both the Portuguese tasting note site, Adegga, as well as the producer’s site. Hopefully, you’ll have enough info at your fingertips to head out to your local shop and pick up one of these bad boys yourself! We know we will.

The complete list of 50 Great Portuguese Wines is as follows:

Alentejo

Palpite, White, 2008 – Fita Preta
Herdade dos Grous Reserva, White, 2010 –  Herdade dos Grous
Private Selection, White, 2009 – Esporao
Vinhas da Ira, Red, 2006 – Henrique Uva
Dona Maria Reserva, Red, 2006 – Quinta Dona Maria
Pera Manca, Red, 2007 – Fundação Engénio de Almeida
Terrenus Reserva, Red, 2007 – Terrenus
Scala Coelli, Red, 2007 – Fundação Engénio de Almeida
Mouchão, Red, 2006 – Mouchão
Solar dos Lobos Grande Escolha, Red, 2008 – Silveira e Outro
Marias da Malhadinha, Red, 2007 – Herdade da Malhadinha Nova

Algarve

Quinta do Francês, Red, 2008 – Quinta do Francês

Bairrada

Quinta das Bageiras Garrafeira, Red, 2001 – Quinta das Bageiras

Beira Interior

Quinta dos Termos Selecção, Red, 2007 – Quinta dos Termos

Colares

Arenae Colares Malvasia, White, 2006 – Adega Regional de Colares

Dão

Julia Kemper Reserva, White, 2009 – Julia Kemper
Casa de Mouraz, White, 2009 – Casa de Mouraz
Quintas de Melgaço Quinta dos Carvalhais Colheita Seleccionada, White, 2006 – Sogrape
Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional, Red, 2008 – Quinta dos Roques
Quinta do Lemos White Label, Red, 2007 – Quinta do Lemos
Munda Touriga Nacional, Red, 2008 – Fontes da Cunha
Quinta da Falorca Lagar Reserva, Red, 2004 – Sociedade Agrícola de Silgueiros
Cabriz Reserva, Red, 2008 – Dão Sul
Quinta do Corujão Reserva, Red, 2007 – Quinta do Corujão

Douro

Alves de Sousa Reserva Pessoal, White, 2005 – Alves de Sousa
Meruge, Red, 2008 – Lavradores de Feitoria
Adelaide, Red, 2008 – Quinta do Vallado
Poeira, Red, 2008 – Jorge Nobre Moreira
Batuta, Red, 2008 – Niepoort
Chryseia, Red, 2008 – Prats & Symington
Quinta do Portal Touriga Nacional, Red, 2009 – Quinta do Portal
Quinta do Noval, Red, 2008 – Quinta do Noval
Quinta da Romaneira Reserva, Red, 2008 – Quinta da Romaneira
Pintas, Red, 2008 – Wine & Soul
Quinta do Vale Meão, Red, 2008 – Quinta do Vale Meão
Quinta de Tecedeiras Reserva, Red, 2008 – Dão Sul
Quinta do Infantado Reserva, Red, 2008 – Quinta do Infantado

Lisboa

Quinta Sant’ana Riesling, White, 2009 – Quinta Sant’ana
Vale da Mata Reserva, Red, 2007 – Vale da Mata

Península de Setúbal

Hexagon, Red, 2007 – José Maria da Fonseca
Dúvida, Red, 2005 – António Saramago Vinhos, Lda
Moscatel de Setúbal Superior 10 Years, Sweet – Horácio dos Reis Simões

Tejo

Vale D’Algares Selection, Red, 2008 – Quatro Âncoras SA

Trás-os-Monte

Valle Pradinhos, White, 2009 – Valle Pradinhos

Vinho Regional Beiras

BTT, Red, 2009 – Luís Pato
Nossa, White, 2009 – Filipa Pato

Vinho Regional Minho

Quinta do Ameal Special Harvest, Sweet, 2007 – Quinta do Ameal

Vinho Verde

Alvarinho Dorado Superior, White, 2008 – Quinta do Feital
Afros Vinhão, Red, 2009 – Afros
Castrus, White, 2009 – Quinta da Melgaco

Please head out to your local wine shop and see if you can source any of these wines, and if you do, don’t forget to come back and tell us about it. We’re dying to hear!

Cheers,

Gabriella Opaz