Wine of the week: vinous epiphanies from Portugal

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published 18 February 2022

2017 Quinta da Leda, Casa Ferreirinha, Douro, Portugal

£59.10, hedonism.co.uk; £49, vintagewineandport.co.uk

I enjoyed an epiphanic tasting the other day at the brilliant Corrigan’s Mayfair. The restaurant formed a perfect backdrop for a simply spectacular line-up of Casa Ferreirinha wines. The Vinha Grande white, rosé and red from this historic Portuguese estate are three of the country’s most highly specced wines.

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The focus of the tasting was the 2011 Barca-Velha (£545, hedonism.co.uk), Ferreirinha’s iconic red. I tasted the 1982, 1991, 1999 and the new 2011, and every wine was revelatory. The 2011 is the finest young Portuguese red wine I have ever tasted and awarded it a score of 19.5+/20 in my notes – this is a first for a Portuguese red. I have written up my full tasting notes and published them on my website.

But today my focus is on Quinta da Leda, Ferreirinha’s most famous vineyard and its eponymous single-plot wine. While Barca-Velha is a late-released, multi-site blend, Quinta da Leda is a very different beast, and I tasted the 2007, 2016, 2017 and 2018. I must insist that you buy the 2017 now. Do your research, drink another bottle, read more and drink another one. Then try the 2018, which will gain retail listings shortly. Then search for the 2016 – it must be out there. These are all magnificent wines, and while they are a tenth of the price of Barca-Velha, they lack nothing in passion, build-quality, epic skill and deliciousness. I can guarantee you your own vinous epiphanies if you follow my instructions this week!

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com)

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Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.