QUINTA DO GRADIL | Reserva | Brut Nature | 2018
chardonnay | arinto

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Today we are also going to review a very intriguing and quite unique sparkling wine from the Portugal‘s prestigious Lisboa wine region – Reserva Brut Nature 2018 by Quinta do Gradil. This is a true crémant wine – a blend of chardonnay and arinto (50/50), where chardonnay forms the wine’s main body and structure, while arinto adds acidity and citrusy flavours to the forefront. The wine is produced using the authentic méthode traditionelle technique, the same way the famous french Champagne is made. The grapes for this sparkling wine are sourced from the slopes at the foot of Serra de Montejunto range, planted on clay-rich and sandy soils with good drainage. After the second fermentation in the bottle, the wine spent 18 months on fine lees (sur lie) and, due to long term second fermentation in the bottle (including the sur lie ageing), the wine developed extra complexity and delivers enhanced creaminess on the palate. That said and without further ado, let’s move on straight to the tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
color: deep yellow color
clarity: bright golden hues

//Olfactory
intensity: rich & leesy
fruit profile: yellow fruits | citrus fruits | stone fruits | dried fruits
__yellow fruits: yellow apple | quince | yellow pear
__citrus fruits: lemon
__stone fruits: apricot | peach
__dried fruits: dried apple | dried pear
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: yeast
__yeasty: bread dough | toast | bread crumbs | baguette | bread crust | bisquit | brioche
primary layer: fruity-yeast

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: low
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: round | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: yellow fruits & citrus
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: yeasty-leesy
finish: medium+
aftertaste: velvety-crisp

//Scoring
QUINTA DO GRADIL | Reserva | Brut Nature | 2018
variety: chardonnay | arinto
country: Portugal
region: Lisboa
rating: 93.7

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | drink now or in the next 3 to 5 years
verdict: great | a must try wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Portugal and with a total of 93.7 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is an outstanding sparkling wine: complex, rich and plump, with a nuanced leesy-yeasty profile on the nose and a well structured palate. The wine is still in its development phase, therefore we would recommend to either drink it today or age it for 3 to 5 more years. On the nose the wine brings overripe and dried sweet fruits in the foreground, followed by some very nuanced, yeasty-leesy notes in the background. On the palate the wine delivers mouth-watering acidity and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which evolve into a velvety-crisp aftertaste. All in all, this is a very rich and well balanced crémenat wine that doesn’t lack neither structure nor complexity on the palate. We believe that this is one of the best sparkling/crémenat wines that we’ve tasted so far and definitely one of the best from Portugal – a wine that is quite close in style and character to a genuine Champagne or Crémant d’Alsace wines. Our suggestion is to pair this wine with dishes rich in creamy textures, like for example lobster bisque soup or oven roasted mahi mahi fillets. Saúde!

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