Caves da Raposeira: Portuguese Bubbly

Were you aware that the Portuguese produce Sparkling Wine in the Douro region? 

On our recent trip to Portugal, we visited Caves da Raposeira, the largest producer of Sparkling Wine in Portugal, with about 10-12 million bottles stored in their caves. The history of bubbly in Portugal extends back to the late 19th century, when agronomist José Maria Tavares da Silva began experimenting with the Méthode Traditionelle, the same method used to make Champagne, where secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle. Then, in 1898, Caves da Raposeira was established in Lamego, with the objective of producing sparkling wine. 

In 2002, the winery was purchased by the Sociedade Agrícola e Comercial da Varosa, which also owns Caves da Murganheira, another producer of sparkling wine. They now constitute about 60% of the sparkling wine market in Portugal. One of the primary differences between these two producers is that Raposeira uses more indigenous grapes. 

Raposeira owns about 30 hectares of vineyards, but as they need about 100 hectares to produce all of their bubbly, they purchase grapes from a number of local farmers. The first pressing of their grapes is used for their best sparkling wines, while the second pressing is used for their regular sparkling wine. They then sell the skins and such to a spirits distillery. 

We walked through their oldest, underground wine cellar, which is all natural, keeping the wines at a constant, proper temperature, and the cellar holds about 2 million bottles of sparkling wine.  

The winery sells about 2.5 Million bottles each year. 

Riddling, turning the bottles so the sediment gathers in the neck of the bottle, is done by hand, and it takes about four weeks to complete. This process can be mechanized, but they continue to do it manually, the traditional way.

After our tour of the cellars, we tasted a couple of their sparking wines. The 2015 Raposeira Velha Reserva Brut is their top wine, made from a blend of Chardonnay and Cerceal. Cerceal is an indigenous Portuguese white grape, grown mostly in the Douro, and which generally adds acidity to white blends. The wine was aged in the cellar for at least seven years. With a pleasing aroma, this bubbly was dry and complex, with an intriguing melange of flavors, including green apple, lemon, citrus, and a touch of brioche. It possessed a lengthy, satisfying finish and certainly would remind you of a fine Champagne. I was impressed with this Sparkling Wine and bought a bottle to take home.

The Raposeira Super Reserva Rosé Bruto is a blend of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, which spent at least five years in the cellar. With a deep pink color, the nose burst with red fruit and on the palate, it was dry and fruity, with strawberry and cherry flavors, enhanced with a touch of savoriness. A less complex wine than the Reserva Brut, but it still was interesting and tasty. It would be a nice aperitif,  especially in the summer.