Villa Oeiras Carcavelos Nacional 12 yr. Lisboa Portugal , NV, 500ml
Villa Oeiras Carcavelos Nacional 12 yr. Lisboa Portugal , NV, 500ml
Carcavelos is the smallest wine appellation in Portugal. Lying west of Lisbon as it stretches along the Targus estuary in search of the Atlantic, its vineyards were nearly consumed by expansion and development during the last quarter of the 20th century, until just 25 hectares—now protected—remained.
Today, Carcavelos is amongst the rarest of wines. Just one active producer, Villa Oeiras, remains, while the wines of Quinta dos Pesos which ceased production in 2005 and were little commercialized—were specially selected from barrel and bottled by the Sotolon Selection team. Carcavelos is a vinho generoso, or strong fortified wine, produced from a blend of up to nine different white and red varieties (for the whites: Arinto, Gallego Dourado and Ratinho are most common; for the reds: Trincadeira, Negra Mole and Castelão). The fermentation can be arrested via mutage, or the wine can be fermented dry and subsequently fortified with vinho abafado (a fermented grape must, preserved by the addition of neutral alcohol), bringing it to 18-20% abv, typically with 80-95 g/l of residual sugar, similar to the sweetness level of Boal Madeira. The wine must then be aged a minimum of three years in cask, but elevage can range from five to 20 years, the wine becoming oxidative in character, with barrels more or less topped-up.
