Old whites, an ever surprising proof

I long ago made a vertical of Morgado de Santa Catherina (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016) and also some barrel tests that contribute to becoming more and more 'white-line'! In addition to the evident freshness of the Arinto grape variety and, being passionate about white wines with some age, is her excellent aging potential and its minerality that always surprise me. For having these characteristics the Morgado de Santa Catherina is one of my whites of choice, who has passed through the hands of great winemakers such as Nuno Cancela de Abreu or João Corrêa. More recently, the wine team were winemakers Maria Godinho and Manuel Pires da Silva.

Since 2014 in the hands of Wine Ventures, which has acquired it from the Company of Farms and now sold it in early 2019 to Sogrape, the oenology of Quinta da Romeira was meanwhile assumed by António Braga, in charge of maintaining the tradition of producing it with the quality of Always.

Quinta da Romeira dates from 1703, year in which the Count of Castle Best designated in honor of Princess Catherine of Bragança, the Morgado de Santa Catherina, name also given to this wine. It is located in the Lisbon region, in Bucelas, has 130 hectares, of which 75 hectares are vineyards (25 of them planted recently).

The Morgado de Santa Catherina is the top of the range of this property, a Fermented arinth in French oak barrels that makes the difference. The proof that I had the privilege of making revealed intense and bulky wines, complex and with excellent freshness, and wood always very well integrated. Notes of spice and minerality are complemented. Older crops gained those special terciaries that i love so much (in the test began to emerge at the 2013 harvest, with notes of white jelly, and oil, a wonder!), but recent crops promise such a good evolution with the older. And the old ones are yet to last.

Those who like these rarities should look for them in wine cellars because there is no description for the pleasure that give these older white wines. And don't leave them forever in the wine cellar, because we never know tomorrow and you have to enjoy life!