Quinta de la Rosa 'douRosa Branco' 2015

The line between genius and insanity is a fluid one. Look at Lord Byron, we all love a bit of Don Juan; some cracking poetry there son, then again Byron took a bear to Cambridge with him and tried to get said bear a fellowship... Eccentric! Many suggested it was insane to try to make high quality still whites in the Douro region. "It's hot enough to bake Port, one of the most resilient wines in the world, what chance does Rabigato have?" That's where the genius of Quinta de la Rosa comes in; they were one of the first producers to take still wine production in the Douro really seriously. With fresh citrus aromas and a delicate minerality on the finish, Quinta del la Rosa are clearly more of the Don Juan type of Byron opposed to the bear for a bunk-mate Byron.

The Bergqvist family has been making port since 1815. Quinta de la Rosa was given as a christening present for Claire Feuheerd, Sophia's grandmother, in 1906. In 1988 Sophia and her father, Tim Bergqvist, decided to restart the family business and launched Quinta de la Rosa as a top-quality port producer onto the market place. Starting in the early 1990s, the Bergqvist family were one of the pioneers in taking table wine (as opposed to fortified wine) production in the Douro region seriously.
Today the winemaking is run by Jorge Moreria. In 1995, Jorge graduated in Enology from Vila Real University. He then joined Real Companhia Velha for seven years and was involved in the initial development of the Fine Wine Division. Jorge travelled to different wine regions in Portugal and abroad, participated in wine fairs around the world and took all the opportunities to try and taste as many wines as possible and to meet as many winemakers as possible. In 2001, with this in mind, Jorge bought a small vineyard in Douro to start making his own wine (Poeira) and in 2002 he started working at Quinta de La Rosa. At La Rosa, he focused on each vineyard, made improvements and investments enabling him to discover the true expression that marks La Rosa's style today.