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Winner Details

Portugal: White, including Vinho Verde

2018 Gold 3       Silver 7                Bronze 3              Commended 14
2017 Gold 2       Silver 8                Bronze 9              Commended 6

In terms of medal count, there were no major surprises here. Three Golds is pretty much bang on what we’d expect. The big change on last year was the drop in overall medals and the rise in Commendeds, suggesting that the 2016 vintage wasn’t quite as good as 2015, which is mostly what we got last year.

The other key trend was the continued rise of Vinho Verde. Five years ago, it was all but invisible. Now it garners a good number of medals every year and, perhaps more importantly, attracts a lot of positive feedback from our tasters.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘The cheapest wine was the best value wine I’ve tasted so far today.’ Debbie Warner, Wild Wine Club

‘Even at the very expensive end we could see the potential – world-class wines.’ Charlie Young, Vinoteca

‘They’d work at Wiltons. Good value wines, and I really liked the top end around £20 – quite expensive for Portuguese white wines but very good.’ Yohann Pinol, Wiltons

‘We sell some Vinho Verde, but that’s it for Portuguese whites. I would definitely consider some from today – a very good tasting.’ Lazaros Engonopoulos, Coq d’Argent

‘The Vinho Verdes were really classy and bracing – an alternative to Muscadet or Txakoli. They spoke of place.’ Simon Woods, team leader

Award winners

Found 27 wines

Portugal

Esporão, Reserva, Branco 2016, Alentejo, Portugal

Gold medal winner

‘Expressive nose of vanilla, buttery notes and sweet pastry,’ said Coq d’Argent’s Lazaros Engonopoulos of this impressive Gold winner, going on to describe a ‘generous, toasty palate, baked ripe white fruits and creamy texture with a good finish’. ‘There’s depth and power here, and lots of interest in a great food-matching wine,’ thought Vinoteca’s Charlie Young, while Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte thought it ‘delicate and pretty, with floral and peach notes, and light woody spices, too’.

£12.27 Matthew Clark

Casa de Vila Nova, Vila Nova, Loureiro 2016, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Gold medal winner By the glass

This keenly priced Gold medallist was ‘ripe, gentle and juicy with ripe pear fruit – precise and dry with a slight hint of pumice on the finish’, said an appreciative team leader Simon Woods, while Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club praised its ‘white flower perfume with light tomato leaf aromas, gentle stone fruit and delicate finish’. The Don’s Carlos Ferreira found the palate ‘fresh and full of fruit, with a touch of salt’, making this ‘the perfect wine for grilled salmon’.

£6.27 Boutinot

Quinta das Arcas, Conde Villar, Alvarinho 2016, Minho, Portugal

Gold medal winner Food Match

A well-deserved Gold medal for Quinta Das Arcas to go with its Silver in the same category, this had ‘a very elegant nose, with an aromatic and complex palate with some creaminess, and a beautifully crisp and friendly finish’, said senior judge Carlos Ferreira. There was plenty going on here for Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm too, who noted ‘mandarin and pineapple, lots of fresh blossom and guava – the complexity of flowers and concentration making it a winner’, while team leader Simon Woods found it a ‘big, rounded, quite fleshy style, with an apple and pear edge and a stony bite’.

£10.58 Bibendum

Reguengo de Melgaço, Alvarinho 2016, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Silver medal winner

‘Soft and generous, creamy with that supple, lightly herbal, sweet apple flavour,’ began team leader Simon Woods, with Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm also picking up on notes of ‘hay and apricot, moving to red apple’, and thought it was ‘wide open on the finish with concentration and complexity’.

£14.53 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Casa da Passarella, Villa Oliveira, Encruzado 2015, Dão, Portugal

Silver medal winner

‘Pure, understated, but there’s something there,’ began Vinoteca’s Charlie Young, highlighting this wine’s ‘mineral palate with integrated oak, length, some austerity but with classy style’. ‘Excellent wine, very elegant with great balance,’ agreed Yohann Pinol of Wiltons.

£29.46 Enotria&Coe

Sogrape, Casa Ferreirinha, Papa Figos, Branco 2016, Douro, Portugal

Silver medal winner

‘A clean and fresh style, with a mineral character and a lovely sweet-sour feel,’ said Vinoteca’s Charlie Young, also noting that it ‘finishes fresh and mineral-tinged, with pear and melon fruit’.

£8.04 Liberty Wines

Quinta das Arcas, Conde Villar, White 2017, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Silver medal winner

Team leader Simon Woods felt this was ‘ripe and fresh’, with ‘honest, juicy apple and pear fruit, light but lacking acidity, though it has that seltzer freshness’, while Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm enjoyed notes of ‘macadamia, and a very clean and moreish finish with elderflower hints’.

£7.25 Bibendum

Valados de Melgaço, Reserva, Alvarinho 2016, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Silver medal winner

‘Fresh pear and white flower aromas, rich minerality with pear and white spices, finishing with charming tropical notes,’ said Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club. ‘Fine-boned, with nectarine, lychee and apple, subtle yet persistent,’ added team leader Simon Woods.

£12.42 Valados de Melgaço

Valados de Melgaço, Vinificação Natural 2016, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Silver medal winner

Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club liked this wine’s ‘ripe peach notes, complex spice and toffee apple aromas, gentle herbal and gingery finish’, while team leader Simon Woods found it ‘juicy, spicy, light on its feet but has cooked apple and quince, and a ripe but fresh finish’.

£17.58 Valados de Melgaço

Quinta do Crasto, Crasto, Superior, White 2016, Douro, Portugal

Silver medal winner

Plenty of fruit character, with ‘apricot, peas, peach, citrus and apple’ standing out for Markus Dilger of Dilger Sommelier Selection, while Vinoteca’s Charlie Young also found ‘citrus and clove, dry on the palate with great acidity, those spices really jumping out at the end, too’.

£13.54 Enotria&Coe

Sogevinus, Kopke, Douro White 2017, Douro, Portugal

Bronze medal winner

Markus Dilger of Dilger Sommelier Selection enjoyed its ‘citrus, green apple, Conference pear with floral and apricot notes, fine acidity and light spiciness with medium body and length’, while Vinoteca’s Charlie Young thought this wine had ‘good aromatic lift, herbaceous and stony, almost smoky notes’.

£8.25 Hayward Bros

Covela, Escolha, Branco 2014, Minho, Portugal

Bronze medal winner

Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club picked this out for its ‘rich apple aromas with gentle herbal notes’, going on to describe a palate of ‘complex Cox apple fruit with rich mineral and lees development, then a long finish’.

£11.55 Fairview Wines

Quinta do Pinto, Estate Collection, Branco 2015, Lisbon, Portugal

Bronze medal winner

Cosimo Di Totero of Chiltern Firehouse enjoyed this wine’s ‘good citrus and pear with green apple on the finish’, while team leader Tom Forrest noted ‘creamy oak, ripe lemon and red apple, and a creamy palate with light vanilla spice’.

£9.59 Boutinot

Sogevinus, Kopke, Reserva, White 2016, Douro, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£12.70 Hayward Bros

Santo Isidro de Pegões, Adega de Pegões, Colheita Seleccionada, Branco 2016, Península de Setúbal, Portugal

Commended medal winner

Santo Isidro de Pegões, Fontánario de Pegões, Branco 2016, Península de Setúbal, Portugal

Commended medal winner

Casa de Vila Nova, Vila Nova, Alvarinho 2016, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£7.46 Boutinot

Prunus, Branco 2017, Dão, Portugal

Commended medal winner

Quinta da Cassa, Cassa, Branco 2016, Douro, Portugal

Commended medal winner

D Diniz, Monte da Ravasqueira, Reserva da Família, Branco 2016, Alentejo, Portugal

Commended medal winner

Quinta das Arcas, Arca Nova, White 2017, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£6.58 Matthew Clark

Ponte de Lima, Pérola do Lima 2017, Vinho Verde, Portugal

Commended medal winner

Sogrape, Quinta Dos Carvalhais, Colheita, Branco 2016, Dão, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£9.34 Liberty Wines

Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Terras do Pó, Castas, Chardonnay/Viognier 2016, Península de Setúbal, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£5.74 Atlantico UK

Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Sauvignon Blanc/Verdelho 2016, Península de Setúbal, Portugal

Commended medal winner

Team leader Tom Forrest noted its 'Bordeaux style', finding 'straw/grass aromas and light oak notes, light fresh lime on the finish with some toast', and Debbie Warner of Wild Wine Club found it 'incredible value – fresh lemony fruit tamed with sensible creamy oak'.

£4.77 Atlantico UK

Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Dona Ermelinda, Branco 2017, Palmela, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£5.09 Atlantico UK

Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Vinha da Valentina, Premium, Branco 2016, Palmela, Portugal

Commended medal winner

£9.93 Atlantico UK