Six Portuguese wines that flourished in the 2025 edition of the International Wine Challenge
These are some of the Portuguese wines that did well in the 2025 edition of the International Wine Challenge, which I tasted live on Instagram to explain what it takes to succeed at this industry-leading blind tasting competition.
Adega Coop de Ponte de Lima Loureiro 2024 Vinho Verde, Portugal
12% alcohol. Really good to see the best wines from the good cooperatives in Portugal doing well in the competition. There’s just a little bit of dissolved CO2 here. Lovely aromatics of lemon and melon with a slight chalkiness and a touch of green apple. The palate is fresh and quite delicate and beautifully balanced: juicy citrus with some exotic melon and apricot notes, finishing fresh. Such drinkability. 93/100
Canto do Artista 2023 Dão, Portugal
13% alcohol. A blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Alfrocheiro. This is a relatively inexpensive wine but it has real drinkability and deliciousness. It’s quite meaty and savoury on the nose, with dried herbs, cured meat and some woodsmoke alongside the berry and black fruits. The palate is vivid and fruit-driven but there’s some savoury spiciness and a bit of structure, as well as some sweetness. It’s slightly wild, in a good way, finishing with some sour cherry. 92/100
Seleccionado Pingo Doce Alicante Bouschet 2019 Alentejo, Portugal
14.6% alcohol. This is an own label wine for Portuguese supermarket Pingo Doce, which in my experience has a really good wine selection. This represents amazing value for money. It’s concentrated, ripe and rich, with sweet black cherry and blackberry fruit. There’s a harmony here: some age has softened the edges and brought everything together. Lovely concentration and intensity, with a herb and spice finish. 93/100
Ravasqueira Coutada Velha Tonel No 2 2024 Alentejo, Portugal
13.5% alcohol. This is floral and enticing with sweet, liqueur-like blackberry and cherry fruit with some subtle herbal notes, and a touch of white pepper. The palate has sweet fruit, a bit of structure, and hints of clove and spice adding a savoury twist. Stylish and nicely poised, showing good balance. 93/100
Quinta Vale d’Aldeia Grande Reserva 2020 Douro, Portugal
15% alcohol. This is from Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Alicante Bouschet grown at 450 m in the Douro Superior. Lovely core of sweet cherry and berry fruit with some luscious liqueur-like richness but also a bit of grainy, grippy structure. This shows nice sweet fruit, but also some seriousness, and it carries its alcohol really well. This is a really nice ripe expression of the Douro. 94/100
D’Oliveras Malvazia 1994 Madeira, Portugal
20% alcohol. This is quite a special wine. Full brown in colour, it has a complex nose of malt, treacle, spice and raisin, as well as citrus peel and old furniture. In the mouth, this is sweet, complex and concentrated, with lovely spice-laden raisin, honey and tar notes. But the best thing is the eternal length, with the sweetness and the high acidity jostling for supremacy. Both win. Remarkable stuff. 97/100
