Esporão Private Selection Blanco 2022

The Alentejo is known for red wine, but Esporao has made this single varietal Semillon since 2001, when the French grape was almost unknown in southern Portugal. It is raised for six months in French oak barrels followed by six months in bottle, and the oak time allows slow oxygen exchange and lees contact that build texture, weight and a creamy roundness, while the wood adds light vanilla and spice. Semillon is a fuller, waxy grape that suits barrel work, and in the warm, dry Alentejo climate it ripens to a rich style, farmed organically here. The warm days are tempered by cooler nights that hold enough acidity to balance the ripeness and the oak. The bottle time before release lets the wood and fruit knit together so the wine shows integrated rather than overtly oaky. It pours deep straw gold. The nose is white peach and honey with beeswax, vanilla and a nutty edge. The palate is broad and textured, ripe stone fruit and citrus peel carried on a firm line, finishing with gentle oak spice and length. Serve at 11 to 13 degrees in a large glass.