Time for the final update on our travel day number two!
After our visits at Quinta das Bágeiras and Caves São João, we finally arrived at our hotel, Curia Palace. It is part of the hotel group Alexandre de Almeida Hotéis, which some of you might recognize for the more widely-known hotel of Buçaco Palace.
Originally we were planning on staying at the Buçaco Palace hotel, which is located in the Buçaco mountains between the wine regions of Bairrada and Dão - basically because of me and The Driver loved the Buçaco wines and were interested to see the place where the wines came from! Some time before our trip I had asked Tomás to contact the hotel winery if they were available for a visit and a winery tour, but to my understanding, Tomás never received an answer from them, so we just let the matter go.
However, shortly before our trip, one of our friends informed us that the Almeida hotel group owns another palace hotel much closer to the wineries - one that also serves Buçaco wines in their restaurant - so having not heard anything from the Buçaco winery, we decided to change our plans. As this other palace hotel was located so much more conveniently - only a stone’s throw away from the wineries we visited - we cancelled our stay at the Buçaco palace and booked rooms at the Curia palace hotel instead!
As I explained in my previous update, we had already pre-ordered our dishes and wines for our dinner at the Curia palace restaurant, so when we checked in at the hotel reception (relatively late), we were kindly asked to get ready for the dinner as quickly as possible. As we had dined some eight-nine hours before at Mugasa, they didn’t need to ask us twice! As we were already getting pretty hungry, we just threw our luggage into our rooms and made our way directly into the hotel’s Belle Époque restaurant.
I’m not a big fan of rosé wines, but one of the few rosé wines I really love is the exceptional Rosado Reservado by Buçaco Vinhos. Unfortunately - due to the tiny production - there were no vintages of Rosado Reservado available now. However, what I had ordered in advance for us were a bottle of Buçaco’s brand new Rosado bottling - just to have something to drink before the entrées - and bottles of Branco Reservado and Tinto Reservado for the entrées and the main courses, respectively.
When we arrived at the restaurant, there was only one couple dining in this huge dining hall, and by the time I took this photo, us four were the only ones left!
It didn’t take more than a few minutes after we sat down when we were served some tasty mussels as appetizers!
At this point we requested the white and red wines to be opened and have the Tinto Reservado decanted off the deposit. However, the cork of the first Tinto bottle turned out to be dried-up, crumbly and stuck in the neck, so the waiter apologized and procured another bottle. Unfortunately, the cork in this bottle turned out to be as dry and brittle as with the first one. When the waiter informed us that they had no more of the requested vintage at hand, I offered to open the bottle in her stead, if she could fetch us a sieve for the cork particles - the poor waiter didn’t seem to be particularly familiar with troublesome corks, unlike us, so I ended up digging the remaining chunks of cork from the neck of the bottle with moderate success. Fortunately this tiny ordeal wasn’t a problem with anyone, so after one completely disintegrated cork and a careful decant through a sieve, we finally managed to get ourselves a nice open bottle of 2011 Tinto Reservado.
Poached egg and jamón Serrano on a mushroom fricassée - at first the Serrano ham was a bit dry and chewy, but everything was just spot-on after I soaked up the ham pieces in the mushroom stew! (You can also see the remains of the cork of our Tinto Reservado on the right.)
Bairrada-style goat stewed in Buçaco red wine, served with boiled potatoes, turnip sprouts and garlic. Pretty rustic, absolutely delicious!
And the wines:
- 2021 Alexandre d'Almeida Buçaco Rosado - Portugal, Beiras, Bairrada (22.4.2024)
Unlike the multi-regional Rosado Reservado, this new label is 100% Baga only from Bairrada. 11,5% alcohol. Annual production 1500 bottles.
Quite intense, medium-deep salmon-pink color. The nose feels youthful, fresh and precise with aromas of crunchy apples, some leesy tones, a little bit of melon and a hint of zesty citrus fruit. The wine feels dry, racy and slightly linear on the palate with a medium body and bright flavors of fresh red apples, some saline mineral tones, a little bit of crunchy red currant, light citrus fruit nuances and a hint of incisive steely character. The wine feels brisk and structured with its high acidity. The finish is dry, firm and quite acid-driven with a moderately long, palate-cleansing aftertaste of fresh raspberries and crunchy redcurrants, some saline mineral tones, a little bit of ripe lemony citrus fruit, light crunchy notes of apple and a hint of steely minerality.
A tasty and refreshing little rosé with good sense of freshness and intensity. However, the overall feel is a bit linear and anonymous - while wonderfully fresh, the wine lacks the magic of the Rosado Reservado. Unlike its fantastic bigger brother, which has a rather idiosyncratic character of its own, this wine feels more like a, say, Bandol rosé with an extra dose of refreshing acidity. A good rosé in its own right, but nothing out of ordinary. Good value at 21€ for a bottle in the Curia Palace Hotel restaurant.
(90 points) - 2016 Alexandre d'Almeida Buçaco Branco Reservado - Portugal (22.4.2024)
A blend of Maria Gomes (1/3) and Bical (1/3) from estate vineyards in Bairrada and purchased Encruzado (1/3) from Dão. Fermented and aged for 12 months in new 300-liter French oak barrels. 13,5% alcohol. Annual production up to 10,000 bottles, but not made every vintage.
Golden, pale-to-medium-deep straw color. The complex nose feels sweet-toned and slightly evolved with rich, quite buttery aromas of lemon marmalade, some bruised apple, light perfumed floral tones, a little bit of browned butter and sweet toasty oak tones, exotic hints of fresh mango and ripe pineapple and a touch of cantaloupe. The wine feels broad, rich and complex on the palate with a full body and juicy flavors of ripe yellow stone fruits, some creamy oak tones, a little bit of browned butter, light exotic fruit notes of mango and cantaloupe, a hint of saline minerality and a touch of toasty oak spice. The mouthfeel is rich with a slightly viscous texture, yet the high acidity lends the wine great sense of balance, structure and freshness. The finish is long, rich and complex with an intense, slightly sweet-toned aftertaste of buttery and slightly nutty oak, some bruised apple tones, a little bit of ripe nectarine, light steely mineral nuances, exotic fruit hints of mango, cantaloupe and honeydew melon and a touch of tangy salinity.
A rich, complex and quite hedonistic white that feels surprisingly similar to a Viña Tondonia Blanco, only with quite a bit more noticeable oak impact. I was quite surprised how pronounced the new oak characteristics still were, even at the age of almost 8 years. However, it feels like age had helped the wine to develop some tertiary complexity and integrate those oaky tones better with the fruit, so the wine is obviously evolving in the right direction. Despite the evolved tones it feels as though this wine is still on an upward trajectory and will continue to develop and improve for many years more. I'd let the wine age for another handful of years, just to let the oaky tones integrate even more. Good value at 65€ for a bottle in the Curia Palace Hotel restaurant.
(94 points) - 2011 Alexandre d'Almeida Buçaco Reservado - Portugal (22.4.2024)
A blend of Baga from the estate vineyards in Bairrada (60-65%) and purchased Touriga Nacional from Dão (35-40%). Fermented and aged for 12-14 months in 300-liter French oak barrels (50% new, 50% once used). 13,5% alcohol. Annual production up to 10,000 bottles, but not made in every vintage. The cork in our bottle was very dry and crumbly, disintegrating completely upon opening.
Dark, quite opaque and somewhat evolved blackish-red color. The nose is fragrant and somewhat evolved with attractive, complex aromas of lifted minty and piney (but not vegetal) greenness and sweet dried-fruit notes of prunes, some ferrous notes of raw meat, a little bit of dried fig, light leathery nuances, a hint of cigar box, a touch of dried black cherries and a whiff of kirsch. The wine feels rich, savory and textural on the palate with a medium body and layered flavors of wizened black cherries and meaty umami, some salty beef jerky tones, a little bit of dark pruney fruit and dried figs, light balsamic nuances of VA, a hint of tobacco and a touch of crunchy chokeberry. The overall feel is pretty sinewy and structured with the high acidity and quite ample yet not tough or aggressive tannins. The finish is long, complex and moderately grippy with a savory aftertaste of wizened black cherries and pruney dark fruit, some balsamic tones, a little bit of sour cherry bitterness, light leathery nuances, a hint of tobacco and a touch of minty greenness.
An excellent but also surprisingly evolved vintage of Buçaco Reservado - I wonder if the wine has been kept in an environment that's too dry, perhaps standing upright? At least the dry, crumbly cork suggested so. Despite its somewhat prematurely evolved dried-fruit flavors, the wine was still full of energy, flavors and structure and it paired effortlessly with the dishes it was served with. Good stuff, but based on this bottle alone, I wouldn't expect the wine to evolve much. However, I'm pretty sure a wine with a good cork will come across as much younger with more potential for additional development. A fine wine and worth its price at 110€ for a bottle in the Curia Palace Hotel restaurant.
(93 points)
At this point - after we had finished our main courses - happened something I really did not expect. The lady from the reception arrived at our table, and naturally I expected her to request that if it would be possible, we could pay for the dinner right now, as it was already getting pretty late.
However, she asked if we were still interested to see the Buçaco winery after the dinner, as we obviously seemed to be keenly interested in the wines, and António Rocha - the Buçaco winemaker (and former director of the hotel) - happened to be available! We answered with a slightly confused yet thrilled “yes” and she told us that he’d be waiting for us at the reception whenever we were finished!
Well, we were pretty much finished with the dinner at that point anyways, so we paid our bill and headed for the reception where mr. Rocha was waiting for us!
The Belle Époque restaurant was pretty empty after we had finished!
Only at that point we learned that Buçaco wines weren’t actually made in the Buçaco palace anymore! Some thirteen years ago, the actual hotel winery had moved to the Curia palace and only a part of the wine cellar remained at the Buçaco palace. We had inadvertently moved our lodging from the namesake place to the actual winery!
To those who know nothing about Buçaco Vinhos, a small recap might be in place now.
In 1917 the Buçaco palace was turned into a hotel and the owner of the hotel, Alexandre de Almeida, wanted to offer local food and beverages to the customers, so in 1920 he began producing wine at the hotel. Already from the beginning, the wine have always been a blend of Bairrada and Dão wines - which is only natural, when one takes into account how the palace straddles the border between these two wine regions.
Since the introduction of the red Tinto Reservado, the range has expanded with a white (Branco Reservado) and, more recently, with a rosé (Rosado Reservado). In exceptional vintages they’ve also produced a very limited special release of the red Reservado, Vinha da Mata, made only in exceptional vintages and exclusively with Baga (70%) and Touriga Nacional (30%) sourced from a small Vinha da Mata vineyard in Bairrada, near the Curia palace hotel.
For the most part of their history, these wines have been relatively unknown - basically the only people who have known about these wines were the people who stayed in Alexandre de Almeida hotels. However, recently these wines have started to gain recognition - and as a result, a few more labels have been introduced.
As the Buçaco Reservado wines aren’t particularly affordable (at least by Portuguese standards), they’ve introduced an “entry-level” range of wines made entirely with Bairrada fruit. As for the other end of the spectrum, they’ve also introduced the super-premium range of wines under the label Místico, which are specially selected lots that age for a lot longer (20-22 months) compared to the standard Reservados (12-14 months). The Místico Tinto is a bit more Baga-driven than the regular Tinto Reservado.
The Buçaco wines were made at the Buçaco palace until the early 2010’s, after which the production was moved to the Curia palace, which is located closer to the Bairrada vineyards. António Rocha has been making the wines for approximately two decades now.
After short introductions in the hotel lobby, mr. Rocha took us to the Curia winery. One might think we would end up in fancy, early 1900’s-style cavernous underground cellars of the palace - but no; we walked outside and around the palace, into the small garage-warehouse buildings located behind the palace.
Newer vintages of Buçaco in the stacks on the right, older vintages of Buçaco aging on the wooden shelves to the left.
Here mr. Rocha told us how the Buçaco wines are made and how they still have dozens and dozens of different old Buçaco vintages aging away!
Although only a selection of the past 15 or so vintages were available at the winery restaurant, they actually still have tons of vintages going back for several decades!
Mr. Rocha digging up a bottle of Tinto Reservado 1958 - unfortunately we didn’t get to taste any of these older bottles, only ogle them!
These were the only bottles of Rosado we could find (bottom left)!
The rare Buçaco Místico.
After mr. Rocha had showed us around the warehouse - um, cellar - we moved to a completely different part of the palace backyard, to one of the palace’s garages - which, naturally, held the very compact hotel winery!
Here mr. Rocha explained his winemaking more in detail and also let us taste through all kinds of samples of wines, including different white and red wines aging in barrels and stainless steel tanks. We also couldn’t help but notice the meticulous care mr. Rocha took with the wines and the equipment - everything was cleaned immediately after use and whenever we took a barrel sample, the barrel was topped off immediately afterwards with some wine from the stainless steel tanks.
One white wine we tasted was exceptionally electric and racy, prompting mr. Rocha to ask us what we think of it. It turned out to be the base wine for the future Buçaco Bairrada Espumante!
Mr. Rocha pouring us a sample of the base wine for the Buçaco sparkling wine.
At the moment there was already a batch of sparkling wine aging in bottles with the lees, whereas this newer vintage we tasted was still sitting in stainless steel tanks, waiting to be bottled. When we asked if the sparkling wine was going to be good, mr. Rocha answered in the lines of “Hah! Of course it’s good! There are probably less than ten decent producers of sparkling wine in Portugal, and probably only one is as good as I am!” Them’s are pretty big fightin’ words from a person yet to release a single sparkling wine under this label!
However, mr. Rocha’s confidence is not unfounded - these are some darn fine wines!
So, in the end, we had a quick but immensely interesting and rewarding visit we never expected to have! Some things we learned during our visit with mr. Rocha:
- At the moment, Buçaco has approximately 4 hectares of estate vineyards in Bairrada, whereas the Dão portion is purchased, not made from estate fruit.
- The annual production is about 20,000 bottles. The wines are made today at the Curia palace hotel, but both the Curia and Buçaco palace hotels still have cellars full of older vintages.
- The red and white Reservados make up the core of the production; up to 10,000 bottles annually - although not made in every vintage. The annual production of the Rosado Reservado is only 2,000 bottles.
- Today they also have an entry-level range of wines made exclusively from Bairrada fruit. The annual production for these is 6,000 bottles red; 5,000 bottles white; and only 1,500 bottles rosé.
- They’ve made sparkling wines starting with the 2019 vintage and it is aged for a minimum of two years on the lees before disgorgement. The debut vintage is not yet released, but it should become available later in 2024.
- The wines are made specifically to be enjoyed by the hotel customers, which means that the older vintages are available only at the hotel restaurant. The hotel also sells Buçaco wines, but only the most recent vintages are available.
- Of the annual production, about half is sold in the Almeida hotels (through restaurants and take-away purchases) and about 1000 bottles are sold to an agent in Brazil. Dirk Niepoort is the only local agent Buçaco Vinhos works with and Niepoort usually buys about 30 to 40% of the annual production. Only a tiny amount of annual production is stashed away as a library selection in the cellars of the palace hotels.
When we were about to leave, mr. Rocha told us that if we wanted to buy these older vintages, they were only available at the restaurant. We weren’t sure if that included take-away purchases as well, or just drinking the wines at the restaurant, but we were sure to find more about this the first thing in the morning! We gave final big thanks for mr. Rocha for taking us out on a late-night winery tour and returned to our rooms for our well-deserved rest. What a day - and this was only our first complete day in Portugal!