We had a beautiful piece of black cod lined up for tonight and my mind was set to open a 2017 Anselmo Mendes Parcela Única. But lo and behold, I forgot to bring one back from the offsite. I suck. Fortunately, that is not the only Portuguese white that Tomás recommended and this one was all ready to go in the wine fridge.
2019 Herdade Aldeia de Cima Vinho Regional Alentejano Blanco Reserva - Portugal, Alentejano, Vinho Regional Alentejano (8/9/2021)
PnP and initially a little too cold. Yellow to deep yellow color. The nose is rather expressive with citrus (lemon, grapefruit) and stone fruits (peach) and it leads to honeysuckle and mineral notes. Very nice. On the palate, the first thing that hit me was the beautiful texture of this wine. It’s showing plenty of body from a good blast of citrus fruit but it stays fresh from the sufficient acidity, nice mineral impression and slight bitterness (grapefruit) at the end. Medium length. The élevage seems totally appropriate but also discreet. It simply adds to the body and richness of the palate. It’s good and I think it would be very interesting to meet this again in 2025-2026. I will buy this again. The pairing with the black cod in brown butter was average though.
Thank you for the recommendation Tomás. I’ll find another opportunity to crack open the Anselmo Mendes.