Buçaco branco 2019
Region: Bairrada
Producer: Buçaco - A. Almeida Hotels
The white wines are always a blend of Encruzado del Dão, a grape that produces full-bodied wines, Maria Gomes and Bical from Bairrada. Grapes from the cooler coastal region of Bairrada bring extra freshness and minerality to the wines. In most vintages, the blend is balanced by 1/3 of each grape variety, but sometimes the Encruzado dominates.
The wines show beautiful complexity in their youth, but have a remarkable ageing potential and become more impressive after bottle ageing. The hotel's wine menu still includes many bottles from the 1950s and 1960s that are of stunning quality.
The 2016 vintage was of very good quality. The Bical and Maria Gomez grapes ripened perfectly in the Atlantic climate of Bairrada and so did the Encruzado from the high altitude of the Dao. The play of heat and moderate climate gives a grandiose blend. The wine is aromatic, dense, intense, complex and delicately fresh.
| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | Encruzado, Bical, Maria Gomes |
| Drinking window | 2025-2040 at least |
| Alc. | 13.0% |
| Vinification | in oak barrel. |
| Ripening | Aged for 2 to 3 years in large chestnut and oak barrels. |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
For a hundred years the Buçaco hotel served its own wine only to its own guests, and with the white it goes exactly the same way: Encruzado, Bical and Maria Gomes, fermented in French oak barrels of three hundred litres and then twelve months in oak. Weight thirteen and complexity fourteen — the fullest dry white we stock. Seven years in bottle have made it a wine that at the table does not stand next to a dish but carries it.
Turbot fillet with truffle butter
Roast poultry with chestnut stuffing
Serveren op 12–14 °C
Drink: 2024–2043
“2019 was a warm year, and they picked the grapes in August. The 2019 Branco Reservado has a paler color than the 2020 and 2021, despite being older. It has 13.5% alcohol (according to the label) and an elegant and developed nose with more aromatic complexity, with some diesel-like notes denoting incipient evolution, notes of spices and dried herbs and with lemony freshness. The grapes from Bairrada (Maria Gomez and Bical) and Dão (Encruzado) fermented separately and are blended after the fermentation. The blend is aged in the new 300-liter barrels where it also fermented. It has a medium-bodied palate and is beautifully textured with a fine thread, vibrant and clean flavors and great balance. It has some complexity, and I could start drinking it soon; but it should also keep and improve with years in the bottle. 10,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2021.”
For over a century the Buçaco Palace Hotel has made wines that can age for decades, a blend of Bairrada and Dão. Filipa Pato introduced us to them in the early 2000s. Since they came onto the market in 2008, we have received an allocation every year.