Cortes de Cima Blanco 2023

Cortes de Cima lies in Alentejo in southern Portugal, a warm dry region where Anna Jørgensen has steered the family estate away from a heavily worked New World style toward a more restrained, terroir focused approach. The blend of Albariño and Sauvignon Blanc is unusual for the area and is chosen for freshness, with Albariño bringing citrus and salinity and Sauvignon Blanc adding green aromatics and cutting acidity. To hold that line in a hot climate the fruit is picked early, which explains the modest 12 percent alcohol. The wine is aged for around ten months in oak barrels and eight months in stainless steel; the oak fraction and its lees add roundness and a faint waxy weight, while the steel portion keeps the citrus and orchard fruit bright, so the wood stays in the background. The colour is pale straw. The nose is lemon and green apple with white peach and pear over white flowers, and a subtle creamy texture underneath. The palate is dry, fresh and gently textured, finishing clean and savoury. Serve at around 9C in a white glass.