Quinta da Romaneira Reserva White 2025
£23.25
The wine
A translucent pale golden colour. The aroma is striking, invigorating, subtly mineral and bursting with fruity, delicate floral notes and nuanced hints of oak. On tasting it reveals its fullness, accompanied by a refreshing acidity and a lingering finish.
The Douro's white grapes are far less known than its reds but suit the schist soils well. Gouveio is the same variety as Verdelho, Rabigato holds acidity in heat better than almost anything, Viosinho brings body and Boal adds perfume. Grown at altitude on the cooler northern slopes, then partly fermented in oak.
The producer
Quinta da Romaneira
View all Quinta da Romaneira winesEstablished in 1757, Quinta da Romaneira is one of the largest single estates in the Douro: 412 hectares with three kilometres of river frontage, of which 86 are planted to vines.
The Douro was the world's first demarcated wine region, mapped and regulated in 1756, so the estate is almost exactly as old as the appellation itself. Its vineyards are cut into terraces on hillsides steep enough that mechanisation is impossible in much of the property, and the soil is schist, a layered rock that splits vertically and lets roots drive deep in search of water. That is what allows vines to survive summers in which the valley regularly exceeds forty degrees.
The many valleys and promontories of the estate give it a range of exposures and several distinct microclimates, which is why single-parcel wines like Liceiras and Mirante make sense here. Both Port and Douro table wine are made, and both are taken equally seriously, which was not always true of Douro estates. The table wines in particular have become some of the most admired in northern Portugal.
