Quinta da Pellada Primus 2021
Region: Dão
Producer: Quinta de Saes - da Pellada
"Primus" (Premier) is the harmony between exuberance and longevity. There are notes of exotic fruits, citrus and an ideal marriage between minerality, texture and acidity.
Alvaro Casto perfectly embodies the essence of The Portugal Collection. We have been following him since 2003 and consider him to be one of Portugal's key winemakers, a player in the qualitative renaissance of Portuguese wines, if only because he has, almost single-handedly, put the Dão region back on the map. He has been assisted by his daughter Maria for several years. Their elegant wines make the region shine like in the good old days. His vineyards are located in the Dao region, on a granite terroir on a mountain plateau at an altitude of 450m.
Alvaro's more accessible vintages are marketed under the label of Quinta de Saes, while it bottles distinguished wines for laying down under the name Quinta da Pellada.
| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | Encruzado, Malvasia, Cercial |
| Drinking window | 2023-2030 |
| Serveren bij | richer fish dishes with sauce, poultry |
| Alc. | 13.0% |
| Vinification | Fermentation in new 400L French oak barrels. The barrels are then stored in a cool environment, so the fermentation takes place very slowly over a period of 3 months. Slow fermentation favours the development of a complex aromatic structure. |
| Ripening | Maturing is mainly done in the bottle. Alvaro Castro insists on bottling almost immediately after fermentation, he is convinced that this guarantees the desired high conservation potential. |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
For years Álvaro Castro had a record of nothing but great red wines, until with Primus he showed that in the Dão it can be done with white as well. Fermentation happens entirely in new French oak, but in 400-litre barrels instead of the classic barrique: more wine per barrel means less impact from the oak, and in a cool cellar all of that runs slowly. He then bottles almost immediately, so that the wine ages on further in bottle and not in oak. Encruzado, Malvasia and Cercial then give a wine with volume, a toasted undertone and a soft acidity: it wants fat across from it and turns hard when it stands alone.
Stuffed turkey breast with chestnut
Sole meunière
Serveren op 11–13 °C
Drink: 2024–2036
“They had to harvest the Bical before the rest of the white grapes for the 2021 Primus, but they finally fermented together and the Bical was used as a starter ("pied de cuve") for the fermentation of the rest. There is a sense of harmony and elegance that I like very much, and there is freshness and good vibrancy on the palate. It has pungent flavors, purity and symmetry with citrus freshness and a long, dry, tasty, salty finish with the granularity of the granite soils. It has 13% alcohol and feels very balanced.”