NV Quinta Casa Amarela White Port
Posted: 20:24 Sun 13 Jun 2010
I’ve had this bottle for a while, but have only just taken the chance to open it, because the weather seemed to suggest that something a little chilled might be a nice idea.
Casa Amarela is not a shipper I know well; the only other Port I have drunk from them is their Ruby Reserve which is fabulous and by a long way the best example of this Port I’ve drunk. I therefore had high hopes for this, despite its colour.
It comes in a 50cl clear glass bottle with a cute half-size driven cork. I opened and poured straight away so this is at cellar temperature rather than properly chilled.
The colour is nice; between the darkest straw and the lightest caramel. The nose is also attractive (especially for a white Port). There is quite a lot of fruit; the inevitable lychees and a touch of orange, along with some sweetness that made me think this might not be a dry white. However, at the back of the nose there is something unsettling; a slight chemical smell attached to a lot of alcohol.
I put the glass to my lips and disaster strikes. There is an immediate surge of alcohol. It feels like I am drinking the cheapest brandy or whisk(e)y. With no sugar (for this is a dry Port), my mouth struggles to find something attractive to latch hold of. The lychee comes eventually, along with some lavender, but this immediately disappears and is replaced by a nasty bitter chemical after-taste. I feel like I am gagging; the alcohol is so strong I can’t believe this is 19% and so milder than normal Port. The bitterness makes me wonder (or, rather, hope) if this is a flawed bottle, but flawed by what I don’t know.
This is truly appalling. I only hope that with time and being cooled it will become drinkable. At the moment, this has probably surpassed C. Da Silva’s Amilar as the worst non-flawed Port I have drunk. I am not sure I would like to try it in a Port tonic.
How this can be so bad when the Ruby is so good is a mystery. A huge disappointment
Casa Amarela is not a shipper I know well; the only other Port I have drunk from them is their Ruby Reserve which is fabulous and by a long way the best example of this Port I’ve drunk. I therefore had high hopes for this, despite its colour.
It comes in a 50cl clear glass bottle with a cute half-size driven cork. I opened and poured straight away so this is at cellar temperature rather than properly chilled.
The colour is nice; between the darkest straw and the lightest caramel. The nose is also attractive (especially for a white Port). There is quite a lot of fruit; the inevitable lychees and a touch of orange, along with some sweetness that made me think this might not be a dry white. However, at the back of the nose there is something unsettling; a slight chemical smell attached to a lot of alcohol.
I put the glass to my lips and disaster strikes. There is an immediate surge of alcohol. It feels like I am drinking the cheapest brandy or whisk(e)y. With no sugar (for this is a dry Port), my mouth struggles to find something attractive to latch hold of. The lychee comes eventually, along with some lavender, but this immediately disappears and is replaced by a nasty bitter chemical after-taste. I feel like I am gagging; the alcohol is so strong I can’t believe this is 19% and so milder than normal Port. The bitterness makes me wonder (or, rather, hope) if this is a flawed bottle, but flawed by what I don’t know.
This is truly appalling. I only hope that with time and being cooled it will become drinkable. At the moment, this has probably surpassed C. Da Silva’s Amilar as the worst non-flawed Port I have drunk. I am not sure I would like to try it in a Port tonic.
How this can be so bad when the Ruby is so good is a mystery. A huge disappointment