Branco Palace Hotel Bussaco 2021
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£90.00
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Branco Palace Hotel Bussaco 2021
HED29561
75 cl
13%
£90.00
Taxes included.
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The 2021 Branco Palace Hotel Bussaco, often referred to as Buçaco Branco Reservado, is a historical Portuguese white wine crafted for the iconic Bussaco Palace Hotel. This wine is a unique blend of indigenous grape varieties, including Encruzado from the Dão region, and Maria Gomes and Bical from the Bairrada region, reflecting a tradition dating back to the 1920s. The grapes come from long-standing growers, with the hotel owning only a small amount of vineyard area in Bairrada. It is known for its pronounced mineral character, high acidity and great precision, with a flavour profile that includes citrus and stone fruit notes, and a subtle influence of new French oak from its 12 months of ageing in barrels.
95
Robert Parker
The current release of the traditional white is the 2021 Branco Reservado, a vintage of great complexity, elegance and nuance that reminds me of the young 2001 at its age, still undeveloped but with great potential. It`s made with more or less equal quantities of Maria Gomes and Bical from Bairrada and Encruzado from Dão, and it ferments and matures in new 300-liter barrels for around 11 to 13 months, depending on the harvest, then is blended and kept in stainless steel for around four months until bottling. However, the wine is not oaky; it does have spices and smoke, but those characters are not dominant. 2021 was also warm, and the grapes that were traditionally picked in the first week of September (until 2016!) are now picked around 15 days earlier. 2017 was the first of these warm years. This has a very pale color and a very subtle and elegant nose that is shy and closed, with a balanced, tasty and nuanced palate; it is still young and undeveloped but with terrific potential, given the stuffing and balance between the components. It`s drinkable now, but it would be a shame to open it now because it gains in complexity and develops for a long time. It has a track record for longevity; the bottles from the 1950s were recorked and are still on their restaurant wine list... I had the chance to taste a 1956, and it`s still going strong in a nutty, caramelly style that reminds me of some old-style white Rioja. 10,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2023.
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