Treasures of the Vale Meao Estate
They make for perfect lockdown drinking: a bright, textured, lime-blossom-and-orange white, and a red that tastes like it should cost twice as much. These are serious and delicious wines. And so they should be: both come from one of Portugal's most regarded estates. Quinta do Vale Meao lies in the Upper Douro Valley, near the Spanish border, wrapped in one of the meanders ('meandro', in Portuguese) of the Douro River. It was laid out in the nineteenth century as a model port estate, but it has made its greatest mark on the world with unfortified wines.
Portugal is a treasure trove of native grape varieties. The Meandro Tinto is a blend of the varieties that are also typically used in port: the backbone of the wine is a blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, with the balance made up from a blend of Tinta Roriz, Tinto Barroca and Alicante Bouschet. And the result? A muscular, complex wine, full of succulent dark fruit and secondary notes of liquorice, pepper, warm earth and freshly-cured leather. The white is also a uniquely Portuguese blend: Rabigato brings body, texture, and riper fruit, while Arinto brings fresh acidity, citrus and green fruits. The result is a beautifully balanced white that sits neatly in the middle of the spectrum between rich and crisp.
The complex, varied geology of the Vale Meao estate goes some way to explaining the quality of the wine made here. Then there is the time, care and attention that family owners Xito and Luisa Olazabal lavish on their vineyards. It is a powerful combination. We also have a few cases left of the wine made from the oldest vines on the estate, Quinta do Vale Meao, widely considered Portugal's finest table red. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available imminently
