91pts Wine Enthusiast, 90pts Wine Advocate

Grapes from old vines local to the region and often used for making into white port – Viosinho (60%) and old vineyards (40%) mainly Rabigato, Códega do Larinho and Gouveio.

An ideal wine to accompany summer meals such as fish, salads and pasta or to drink it alone as an aperitif. La Rosa whites can age well, ‘like a white burgundy’ as Jancis Robinson said in the Financial Times August 2012.

The La Rosa Reserve shows aromas with great complexity and elegance - mature fruit with citric notes and an extra depth that comes from ageing in French oak barrels. On the palate, this Reserve white is rich and seductive, has a good density with excellent acidity giving it freshness and length. The perfectly ripened grapes has produced a richness and complexity in the wine, at the same time maintaining an energy and liveliness which comes from its acidity. Jorge says it is ‘ um grande branco’ – a great white wine.

The fabulous quality of the grapes this year has taken everyone by surprise. We didn’t have the ideal meteorological conditions to indicate it was going to be a great year so we were really pleased with the beautiful grapes that came into the winery. The winter and spring was dry with little rain. Stable weather allowed for good flowering so production was always forecast to be abundant (good news after two relatively small years). The summer was hot. There was little rain and few storms, apart from a huge one in May. So by August the vines were under intense water stress and their leaves were browning – especially younger vines with shallower roots. But the good news was that the fruit stood up well to this stress so that almost perfect grape came into the winery.

The vintage was long and slow. Jorge always says that the most important decision he makes every year is when to pick and this year wasn’t that easy. We started picking the white grapes early, in the middle of August. Jorge is extremely pleased with the white wines this year.

We practice a sustainable agricultural regime being part of ADVID & SATIVA. We don’t use genetically modified organisms nor do we use animal products so vegetarians can drin our wines. We recycle where possible and are HACCP & BRC rated.

La Rosa white wine was partially fermented and matured in barrels (50%) and the rest in stainless steel tanks before being bottled in April 2016. The wine is available in both 75cl and 37.5cl format.