Highlights: Herdade do Rocim Vinha da Micaela 2021 Alentejo Vidiguera, Portugal
This is an interesting wine from Rocim. It’s from a single high-altitide vineyard that Rocim purchased from a lady called Micaela in 2015, when it was 70 years old. It’s a mix of varieties, and this was the plot used to make the Jupiter wine that sold for a fortune. This wine is special. It’s not obvious, though.
Herdade do Rocim Vinha da Micaela 2021 Alentejo Vidiguera, Portugal
13% alcohol. This is fresh, supple and quite structured with a savoury, spicy underpinning and grippy tannins as well as sweet blackberry and black cherry fruit. There’s restraint and firmness here: it’s an old-school, uncompromising wine with a long future ahead of it. I love the concept behind this: a good terroir, pick the grapes early, elevage in clay, and make something that is asking for a 20 year sleep in the bottle. It’s a beautiful example of a modern traditional Alentejo red. 94/100 (retail is c €200)
