Luís Louro Monte Branco Branco 2022

This is Luís’ flagship wine… made from the top 1% of grapes on his property. Only the very best fruit makes the cut - so some years Luís doesn’t make this wine. Thankfully for us, the 2020 vintage was a stunner. Luís takes his two best vineyard plots - Alicante Bouschet on schist soils, and Aragonez (which is Tempranillo to you and me) on limestone, and gives them the Rolls Royce treatment in the winery. It’s proper luxury winemaking… co-fermentation in open-top tanks, aged for 12-16 months in 85% new French oak. Even at this point, Luís will cull the least spectacular 30% of barrels and use them in other wines. It’s then aged for a minimum of 2.5 to 3 years before release - so it’s absolutely perfect for when you want to drink it. Like any great fine wine, Luís is aiming for freshness and power, but also elegance at the same time. This is one of the best wines in Portugal, one of the best wines I tasted all year, and if this all hasn’t whetted your appetite to try it, I don’t know what will.