Casa do Valle Vinho Verde Branco Grande Escolha 2014
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Robert
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Wine & Spirits
From an estate in the eastern reaches of Vinho Verde, this is a selection of the top alvarinho grown at the family’s vineyards. It has the sunniness of an inland Vinho Verde, while packing plenty of fresh lime and richer starfruit flavor. The scent of green pear skin and the brisk saltiness of the finish make it a refreshing match with sea bass ceviche.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Expanding one's horizon is usually a good thing and in this case when you taste the delicious and enticing 2014 Casa do Valle Vinho Verde, you will realize that this is, indeed, a great thing. This pleasing white wine is here to show you that there is more to the world than Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio. Light to medium straw color, richer than most Vinho Verdes I have tried; wild, ripe fruit aroma, with a definite note of savory spices; medium bodied, surprisingly rich on the palate; dry, medium acidity, well balanced; expansive and fine in its flavors of ripe fruit and gentle savor, a little walk on the wild side and quite pure, speaks of the growing area. (Tasted: November 24, 2015, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Grande Escolha is an Alvarinho, but it does have 7% Arinto blended in. Some 15% of the juice was fermented in new French oak for approximately one month. It comes in at 12.6% alcohol and is very dry (1.6 grams per liter of residual sugar). You would think that the oak would make a big difference here. Well, you certainly notice it, perhaps even more on the finish, where it provides some power and texture, than on flavor. There is a hint of cream on the finish, but then the acidity takes over. That does a pretty nice job of obliterating the oak. Bone dry, this is a piercing and penetrating Alvarinho with that big acidity and a lingering, very refreshing finish. It also manages to seem quite elegant at times. Very nicely done, this adds a bit of depth to the regular Branco reviewed this issue. While it doesn’t quite have that wine’s zing or purity, it doesn’t lose all that much in freshness. They are both quite fine. This should hold at peak a bit better than the regular Branco, though, so it gets the edge for that at least. I’d still drink it young for safety and best results.
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Casa do Valle is located near the legendary Cavez Bridge, a place often mentioned in the work of the famous Portuguese 19th-century writer Camilo Castelo Branco, and spreads out, protected by the mountain ranges of Barroso and Alvao, across the hillsides of the Tâmega River. The excellent exposure of the vines at this estate, located in the Basto sub region, along with rigorous selection in the vineyards and careful winemaking processes gives rise to wines of world-renowned quality.
Casa do Valle is the name of the manor house of the estate, which produces the Vinho Verde of the same name. Owned by the Sousa Botelho family, winemaking here dates back to the 18th century and features a mix of the ancient enforcado (tree-trained vines) and ramada (trellis) training systems for the red grapes and the modern single-wire training system for the white grapes.
The main noble grape varieties used for the white wines are the Alvarinho, Arinto, Azal and Loureiro. For red and rosé wines the grape varieties are Vinhao, the predominant red-grape variety of the Vinho Verde Region, Rabo de Ovelha, and Touriga Nacional. With a total area of 170 ha, of which 55 hectares are under vines, Casa do Valle is one of the largest production Quintas in the Vinho Verde Region, using exclusively grapes produced at the estate.