As you may already know, we love to champion the excellent wines made across Portugal. So you can imagine our delight at seeing one of our favourite producers from the Douro Valley receive a glowing recommendation, and Wine of the Week, from wine writer Julia Harding writing for JancisRobinson.com! Pormenor, the project of winemaker Pedro Coelho, works with the old field-blended vineyards at high altitude in the Douro Valley and produces wines of exceptional finesse using minimal intervention methods in the winery.

The wine highlighted was Coelho's 2021 Branco Reserva, from a plot of 80+ year old vines at 600m above the Douro tributary Tua river. The site contains a large portion of the Rabigato variety which is excellent at retaining acidity in this hot climate, leading to a wine of beautiful purity. The Reserva is fermented in French oak barrels (all used, he doesn't want to add overpowering oak flavour) before ageing on lees for 10 months.

I certainly agree with Harding's description of the wine as 'detailed, complex and intensely refreshing', it's the kind of bottle that unfurls in layers over the course of a couple of glasses, revealing new facets of flavour backed up by robust acidity. Grapefruit and lemon zest, smoke and cedar, stony minerality and a hint of cream... it just keeps going on and on and on! Remarkable body and depth of flavour for a wine at just 12% alcohol and a stunning example of why the Douro Valley should be looked at as a premier white wine producing region in my opinion.

Alongside the special Reserva, we also carry the 'regular' Pormenor Branco 2022, which is another beautiful wine crafted from old vines. A selection of vineyards upwards of 60 years in age, around Pombal in the Tua valley, the Branco is fermented and aged in stainless steel only, giving a fresh and zippy wine with mouthwatering mineral notes. An excellent pairing for seafood or fish, the finish remains fruity despite being bone dry, with lovely pear and lime character.