Serie Impar Sercialinho 2017

Case discounts (can be mixed cases)
5% off 6 bottles (£76.00 each)
10% off 12+ bottles (£72.00 each)

2017 / Bairrada / Portugal

Sercialinho / 12.5% / sustainable

‘Serie Impar’ translates as ‘Experimental Series’, and is a new venture from the winemaking team at Sogrape. Their winemakers have been tasked with finding something new and innovative that they would like to experiment with – be it a grape variety, a zone or a production technique. The first wine in this series is a Sercialinho from Barraida (a variety we've never tried, apparently only 9ha planted in the world, all in Barraida) and, if this is a taste of things to come, then we're very excited.  We shared a bottle with two wine loving friends and we were all in agreement that this is a stunner.  Hand picked, fermented with wild yeasts in 500 litre oak barrels, no malolactic fermentation as the winemakers wanted to retain vibrancy, a short period of batonnage (stirring of the lees), then 12 months in barrel, total production of this wine is 1900 bottles.  It's not a big, shouty, look at me wine, and it may get overlooked at tastings because it's not.  It's refined and elegant, subtle and nuanced, and takes a while to reveal itself fully so I'm glad we took the time.  It's got a lovely mouthfeel - very textural - with waxy lemon and peach fruit, creaminess, good acidity, minerals and balance.  Complex and long, it's nuanced in different ways and almost has a quiet confidence about it that says "I know I'm great, I don't need to shout about it".  Which sounds weird but sums up the wine for me.  I can't wait to taste it again after a bit more time in bottle.  Not cheap but great wines never are.

The wine community at Vivino love it - see here.