Vida Nova Wine
onda nova
Onda Nova is a new range of single variety wines, the first of which will be a Syrah red wine, with more red and white wines to follow in the next few years. The wines reflect the warmth, colour and diversity of the Algarve and are designed to partner its fantastic cuisine.
WELLS WINES
Wells Wines now have available by mail order in the UK all the current range of Vida Nova wines - white, rose, reserves, and magnums - produced by the Adega do Cantor - together with a range of official Vida Nova merchandise. Limited amounts of the new Onda Nova are also in stock. Full details at www.wells-wines.com.
Translation of Portuguese wine review (see pictures)
Portugal has experienced a large growth in these types of wines lately. As a wine-drinking country which has always downgraded the classic Mateus Rosé (which is a reasonable wine), we now have a variety of different rosés for a wide range of tastes and pockets.
I found rosé wines of mediocre quality, ordinary, good, very good and even exceptional. So, needless to say, it was not an easy task to decide which to be the best wine and the best value.
But from the three candidates - Valle Pradinhos, Quinta da Sequeira and Vida Nova - I chose the last of these, classing it as the BEST ROSÉ, for its colour, structure and vigour.
Verdelho & Viognier 2006
The Verdelho is the dominant part of this marriage - 75 per cent. The result is perfect - a sublime, delicate, elegant, rich in aroma, fresh and dry wine. A delight to taste.
Rosé 2006
Last year I considered Vida Nova the best rosé and the best buy. This year I continue to classify it as the best rosé. The blend is 90 per cent Aragonez and 10 per cent Syrah.
Vida Nova Tinto 2005
The year started with the pruning of the vines in the vineyards - Quinta do Moinho, Quinta do Miradouro and Vale do Sobreiro. All three vineyards are now established and are starting to produce high-quality fruit for the wines. The 2005 growing season was heavily influenced by the drought that occurred during the preceding winter. Bud burst occurred through March and early April and, apart from a little rain at flowering, the vines had a long, healthy dry growing season. The lack of ground water meant that we could control the growth of the vines easily through irrigation and allow some controlled water stress. This enabled us to produce a higher quality of fruit.
Vintage started on 23 August, was fine and dry, and went without a hitch. We kicked off with fruit for a new edition to the range Vida Nova Branco (white) followed by the Rose fruit and then the Reds. The fruit quality was excellent throughout. We yielded 130 tonnes off all the vineyards, and have high hopes that the wines will be the best yet. The Vida Nova 2005 - a 62,000-litre blend of Aragonez, Shiraz and Alicante Bouschet - was put together in April 2006 and bottled at the end of May.
TASTING NOTES
Vida Nova 2005 Red The wine, a blend of Shiraz, Aragonez, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet, shows the typical rich fruit characters and generous palate to be expected from a hot year. It is soft enough for early drinking but has enough quality tannins and structure for ageing and improvement in the bottle.
Appearance: Deep, dense opaque red.
Nose: Complex, spicy aromas of earth, and perfumed cherry and plum fruits.
Palate: Smooth succulent palate, showing ripe supple fruit flavours with some chocolate notes. Good mouth feel, with excellent balance, the firm tannins providing structure and a good finish to the sweet fruit-driven palate.
Medal
The 2004 vintage has been awarded a Bronze Medal by the International Wine Challenge 2005. See picture at foot of page
Visit the Adega do Cantor website at www.winesvidanova.com. Buy the wine and other items at the on-line shop: www.winesvidanova.com/shop.
International distribution of Vida Nova is as follows:
Portugal: bsf.adegadocantor@mail.telepac.pt (website coming soon)
UK on-line: www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk
UK mail order: www.wells-wines.com
Denmark: www.hjhansen-vin.dk
Scandinavia: www.vip-event.dk
Belgium: www.strea.be
