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Luís Sottomayor, the Casa Ferreirinha (Sogrape) winemaker responsible for the legendary Barca Velha wine, does not doubt: “The lion has arrived”. In the glasses we have the brand new Barca Velha 2011 -the twentieth in history- that has just been launched and which, for Luís Sottomayor, is a wine that “Barca Velha has already been born”. There was no hesitation. From the first moment, the winemaker knew what he had on his hands, from the grapes harvested in that hot summer nine years ago.
“As it was from Barca Velha”, he declared at one of the three launch dinners (it was necessary to divide the guests into three days due to the restrictions caused by the covid-19 pandemic), held this week in the beautiful Quinta da Leda, in the Upper Duero, precisely where the grapes that give rise to Barca Velha are born.
The vineyards of Quinta da Leda
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There, in the middle of the vineyards, a kind of makeshift camp was set up, with a long table. Strategically placed, the lights illuminated the vines. At the end of the night, the moon rose in the sky, rising behind the shadow of the mountain. “To arrive here is to arrive at paradise, it is a pure and direct contact with nature”, says Fernando da Cunha Guedes, president of Sogrape and host of the event. “This is where the Barca Velha was born. We are in perfect communion between wine and nature and that fascinates me ”.
It is in this setting, at a roast goat dinner in the local wood oven, prepared by Nela and Angelina (who received the highest praise from the chefs José Avillez and Pedro Lemos, invited to the launch), that the Barca Velha 2011 reaches the cups. Not every year there is Barca Velha, it is a decision that the oenological team has to make, depending on the quality of the wine, and which is then translated into an official statement. Sottomayor used to say that, for this decision-making, “wine rules”.
“The 2011 vintage was extraordinary,” recalls the winemaker. “We had a very reasonable quantity and exceptional quality. When making the batch [com 45% de Touriga Franca, 35% de Touriga Nacional, 10% de Tinto Cão e 10% de Tinta Roriz]We didn’t have seven or eight quality wines to be Barca Velha, we had 14, 15 or 16. A huge amount. Then it was just adjusting, understanding which one had the characteristics and quality for this type of wine, bottling and waiting ”.
It is a different wine from the previous Barca Velha, the one from 2008. “It is not as mysterious as this one”, the winemaker acknowledges, precisely because it is a hot year, unlike 2008. The most recent Barca Velha “arrives and shows if it says ‘Here I am’, it’s like a lion walking through the savannah, he’s not afraid of anything, he’s respected and he knows he’s respected, that’s why he goes everywhere without any problem ”.
Do not hesitate, therefore, to describe it as “unique and extraordinary”, with “an incomparable texture and concentration in the mouth”, which is combined with “an extraordinary elegance”. He remembers a vertical tasting that he did last year in Rio de Janeiro, in which he tasted wines from 1952 (the first year of Barca Velha) to 2008, and highlights the set of 54, which he considers exceptional even today. “I am sure that [o 2011] It will arrive as much or more than that of 1954. For me, this wine is already a certainty ”.
Winemaker at Casa Ferreirinha Luís Sottomayor
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Note: Barca Velha 2011 does not have a retail price established by Sogrape; the wine bars and restaurants will set the price.
