A Great Food Wine from Douro Superior: Maritavora Branco

21 Apr 2014: Our good friend Manuel Gomes has quit his full-time job to focus on making a success of his family winery estate, Quinta da Maritávora, in the Douro Superior, right beside the Spanish border.  I highly recommend the newly released organically farmed 2012 Branco Reserva (and very well-priced!).

Lemon hue. Attractive aromatics fill the bouquet: dried herbs, grapefruit, lemongrass, ginger, meadow broom and a hint of smoke. The delicate and intense flavours fill the palate, complemented with an elegant touch of minerality, leaving the palate with a clean and crisp saline and lemony finish. A very elegant and expressive wine, and would make fine pairing with pungent rind-washed cheese such as a Livarot, smoked trout and salmon, and even Chinese dishes, such as prawns in egg yolk, squid in salt and pepper, and dim sum dishes such as Shanghainese dumplings! 16/20