Buçaco tinto 2018
Region: Bairrada
Producer: Buçaco - A. Almeida Hotels
The Buçaco-hotel has been producing a wonderful blend of Dão and Bairrada wines for 100 years. Until recently, the wines were only available to hotel guests, but now we can also offer about 300 bottles each year.
This red wine is made from the Baga grape variety that the Bairrada region is famous for, it provides tannins and is the backbone of the wine. The cuvée is also made up of Touriga Nacional which comes from the Dão region, which brings strength and balance with a dose of finesse to the wine.
The wines show a beautiful complexity in their youth, but have a notorious ageing potential and become more impressive after bottle ageing. The hotel's wine list still includes many bottles from the 1950s and 1960s that are of stunning quality.
Tasting note for 2011 cuvée from Julia Harding (Jancisrobinson.com) who in May 2016 tasted over 20 old vintages in red: "Inky black and full of tannin and acidity with all the beautiful dry darkness. Fine and dry texture. The wine is still a little young, but everything is in place for a glorious future, as the perfume is released and the tannins fade. In these younger vintages, the aroma of Touriga tends to dominate at first, but gradually the Baga will appear and become more expressive and less overwhelmed by Touriga in terms of the aromatic profile of the wine. (JH) Drinking 2025-2060
| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | 60% Baga, 40%Touriga |
| Drinking window | 2021-2050 |
| Alc. | 13.5% |
| Vinification | in lagares |
| Ripening | in wooden barrels |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
For a hundred years the Buçaco hotel poured this blend of Dão and Bairrada to its own guests only. The Baga is still trodden in the old lagares and aged in wood, but with forty per cent Touriga alongside it and a noticeably gentler hand than in the past — power with suppleness rather than power alone. We receive a share of some three hundred bottles a year for the Belgian market.
Lamb shank with five-spice and soy
Young venison with parsnip
Serveren op 16–17 °C
Drink: 2026–2036
“The 2018 Tinto Reservado was produced with Baga from Bairrada and Touriga Nacional from Dão. It fermented in open granite lagar and matured in a high percentage of new 300-liter French oak barrels for 14 months. When young, this wine tends to have a creamy nose with some lactic notes, sweet spices and ripe berry aromas and flavors. It comes in at 13.5% alcohol, with good ripeness but without excess and with good freshness and acidity that provide balance. When older, it tends to deliver meat-like notes, hints of iron and blood and an earthy, slightly rustic character. Still very young and juicy, it is medium-bodied and has fine, slightly dusty tannins. 11,067 bottles and 213 magnums produced.”
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.
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