Our Wine Choice: Quinta Maria Izabel Douro Branco Sublime 2020

Many Portuguese white wines have excellent freshness and acidity despite the country’s warm growing seasons, but the Quinta Maria Izabel Douro Branco Sublime 2020 stood out for its elegance, minerality and wild energy when I tasted it a few weeks ago in our office in Hong Kong.

The Douro region and its terraced, schistous slopes are steeped in tradition – you may know it for its famous fortified Port wines. The Sublime is a field blend of local white varietals, from an extremely old vineyard on the estate where the vines are more than 95 years old. And yet winemaking is nontraditional, completely vinified without oak (a surprise to me, given the texture plus subtle spiciness and smokiness of the wine). The grapes are harvested early and pressed gently before fermentation in stainless steel vats to focus on freshness, resulting in a wine with relatively low alcohol, high acidity, and fantastic energy.

This is the latest addition to consulting winemaker Dirk Niepoort’s portfolio of wines, mostly from the Douro Valley, many of which bring an innovative and modern winemaking approach to traditional varieties and terroirs. Only about 700 bottles were produced from this maiden vintage. The estate also produces a red Sublime from around 60-year-old vines, with a production closer to 3,000 bottles.

Although the white Sublime might not be easy to find, it’s a fantastic wine with plenty of aging potential.

– Claire Nesbitt, Associate Editor