Casa de Mouraz - Encruzado 2022

(Dão, Portugal) Truly delicious white made from the rare Encruzado grape, which spends roughly 5 months aging in steel tanks on the fine lees, with occasional gentle battonage. Deliciously textured, aromatic notes of lemon and ginger, inviting and incredibly moreish with a hazelnut note and a slate minerality on the finish. Made by the wonderful couple Sara Dionisio and Antonio Lopes Ribeiro, who started Casa de Mouraz in 2002 when they moved back from Lisbon to Antonio's native town of Mouraz in the Dão region. They aim to showcase their unique part of the world, and create wines that gently speak of their sandy granitic soils, their microclimate between two mountain ranges, and their unique collective energy.