Vinho Regional Lisboa
Categories: White Wine, Red Wine, Carcavelos
Vinho Regional Lisboa (VR Lisboa) extends north along the Atlantic coast from Lisbon and the Tagus estuary, its best wines often marked by a freshness and tension—as well as a notable saline minerality—due to its distinct maritime influence. Formerly known as Estremadura, the region includes three of the most historic wine appellations in Portugal—Bucelas, Carcavelos and Colares—and has seen a rise in its prominence as Lisbon has assumed its place as one of the most dynamic cities in Europe. Traditional grapes include Arinto, Fernão Pires, Esgana Cão, Rabo do Ovelha, Malvasia di Colares, Gallego Dourado and Ratinho for white wines, and Castelão, Trincadeira, Ramisco, Baga and Touriga Franca for reds. It is also home to the Lourinha DOC, the only appellation for aguardente and brandy outside of France.
White Wine
Chão do Prado Bucelas 2022
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa ➜ Bucelas DOC 12.7% ABV
12.7% ABV
This signature white wine is classic Bucelas, native home of Arinto, perhaps Portugal's greatest white wine variety. Here on the calcareous marl, loam and limestone soils locals call ‘caeiras’, Arinto absorbs the maritime influence of the nearby Atlantic, producing age-worthy wines of great vitality and savory mineral depths. Full details
Murgas Bucelas 2018
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa ➜ Bucelas DOC 12.5% ABV
12.5% ABV
Murgas Bucelas highlights Arinto, one of Portugal'a oldest and most historic grape varieties. In the village of Frexial, twenty kilometers north of Lisbon, the Franca family farms old-vine Arinto organically from rocky calcereous marls known as 'caeiras'. Fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tank (80%) and third-pass 350L French oak, its elevage likewise continues until bottling, resulting in a wine of great vitality and sapidity, its notes of grilled white peach and beeswax marked by the vibrant minerality for which Bucelas is renowned. Its lively character makes it a refreshing complement to all manner of fish and seafood, chicken and pork. It can be enjoyed now through 2035. Full details
Quinta do Avelar Bucelas 2015
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa ➜ Bucelas DOC 12.5% ABV
12.5% ABV
Bottled in mid-2022 after an extended, seven-year elevage, this stunning wine stands an exemplar of the once common but now exceedingly rare tradition of long-aged Bucelas. Hand-harvested from the traditional calcario soils that flank the Trancão river as it bisects the Bucelas appellation, Arinto and Rabo de Ovelha are fermented with native yeasts in steel tank and the wine undergoes its lengthy elevage on the lees. A small quantity of Sercial (Esgana Cão) is fermented separately, in tank and in ancient barrels, before final blending and bottling. Full details
Red Wine
Murgas Vinho Regional Lisboa Touriga Franca 2021
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa 13.5% ABV
13.5% ABV
This singular red wine highlights Touriga Franca, which is widely planted in northern and central Portugal but rarely bottled on its own. On calcareous, west-facing slopes of the Arneiro vineyard, twenty kilometers north of the River Tagus as it opens as it opens out to the Atlantic, the Franca family tend two hectares of this underrated but increasingly important varietal organically. The wine is fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tank (80%) and third-pass 350L French casks and its elevage likewise continues until bottling, resulting in a wine that is supple and charming, with notes of raspberry, blackcurrant and pomegranate; graphite, violet and clove. Delightful on its own, it is a versatile complement to a wide array of dishes and can be enjoyed thru 2031. Full details
Carcavelos
Villa Oeiras Carcavelos Tinto 10-Year Old
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa ➜ Carcavelos DOC 19.0% ABV
19.0% ABV • Fortified, Oxidative
The first ever Carcavelos Tinto imported to the US, this exhilarating wine comes from Portugal's smallest appellation, just west of Lisbon along the Tejo estuary as it opens out to the Atlantic. A terrific alternative to Tawny Port, it is produced from small, calcareous seaside vineyards highlighting local varieties Castelão and Trincadeira. Full details
Villa Oeiras Carcavelos 'Nacional' 12-Year Old
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa ➜ Carcavelos DOC 18.5% ABV
18.5% ABV • Fortified, Oxidative
Villa Oerias Carcavelos 'Nactional' 12-Year Old is Carcavelos as it might have been when it was first produced by the Marquis do Pombal in the mid-18th century. Aged exclusively in Portuguese ('Nacional') oak, which lends a pleasingly rusticity and generosity of spirit, it is the first such expression of Carcavelos in more than half a century. Full details
Villa Oeiras Carcavelos 15-Year Old
Portugal ➜ VR Lisboa ➜ Carcavelos DOC 19.0% ABV
19.0% ABV • Fortified, Oxidative
Benchmark of the appellation, Portugal's most diminutive and one of the smallest in Europe, Villa Oeiras Carcavelos 15-Year Old was the first Carcavelos imported to the US in many decades. Full details
