Text João Pedro de Carvalho | Translation Jani Dunne

Since 1937, the company named Caves do Solar de São Domingos has been producing bubbly wines, aguardente velha, bagaçeira (wine spirits), and Bairrada and Dão wines. Their arcades were carved into rock. It is definitely worth it to visit this wonderful hub where more than two million bottles of bubbly, many thousands of bottled wines and hundreds of small barrels are stored in French oak – for it’s infamous wine spirit.

A few of their bubbly wines are in my list of national favourites. However, I will be focusing on the new white wines in this article, the 2014 editions that have just been launched. The 2014 harvest was tricky given the heavy rain. Those who harvested wines before the rains were lucky and got great quality white grapes. These words were repeated throughout the country, although the potential white casts of later ageing was mourned, but fortunately the early-ageing whites gave birth to high-quality wines.

In this case, this means two whites of 2014. They are quite distinct from each other. While São Domingos is faithful to the Bairradino profile – its plot of land is mostly composed of Maria Gomes (80%) and Bical (20%) –, the grapes from S. Lourenço do Bairro, Vilarinho do Bairro and Ventosa do Bairro, grown in grounds rich in sand and clay, resulted in a white wine that is briefly passed through the cold stainless steel. Its aroma is very clean, mostly fruity, citrus, white pulp, flowers for a scented profile, creating a good environment, in the nose as well as in the mouth. A good presence in the palate, evident clean fruit; it shows some grasp with some mineral dryness in the background. A good white to have with a meal, for instance swordfish in a coal-oven or even fish soup.

The other white is the most innovative side to this producer. Volúpia 2014 is wrapped in a poem by Florbela Espanca, from Vila Viçosa. Invoking voluptuousness and seduction, desire and flavour, the search for harmony and the pleasure of drinking a white grape. A desire to love deeply, to love for the sake of love itself, to love near or love far. That would be how Florbela Espanca would have defined this deeply poetic white wine – very sensual and bold, deeply personal and feminine. It comprises Sauvignong Blanc (50%), Chardonnay (35%) and Maria Gomes (15%) that come from Carregosa and are briefly run through stainless steel. It produces a different result, of a complex aroma but very fresh and perfumed, and with notes of very mature fruit; clean and mouth-watering. It is, most of all, a captivating wine of a delicate scent; its tasting reveals a mouth that gracefully combines volume with freshness. It has acidity and structure, it is well-able to entertain more oriental-flavoured meals, or to enhance a wide-range of tapas in a late-afternoon on a rooftop terrace.

Contacts
Caves do Solar de São Domingos, S.A.
Ferreiros – Anadia
Apartado 16
3781-909 Anadia – Portugal
Tel: (+351) 231 519 680
Fax: (+351) 231 511 269
E-mail: info@cavesaodomingos.com
Website: www.cavesaodomingos.com