About the Wine

This commemorative bottling was made to honor the relaunching of this estate by winemaker Sophia and her father, thirty years ago. This is an extremely complex and nuanced wine, suitable for any special occasion. There was only a small handful of cases produced and an even smaller amount that made it into the united states. Don't miss out on this exceptional wine.

Located 60 miles inland from Porto, Quinta de la Rosa is set in the heart of the Alto Douro, with steep terraced vineyards that give the impression of tumbling into the river below. The estate is situated on the southeast facing banks of the River Douro, one kilometer from Pinhão in the Cima Corgo region. Run by Sophia Bergqvist and ably assisted by her brother, Philip, Quinta de la Rosa has been in the family for over 100 years. The estate was given as a christening present for Claire Feueheerd, Sophia’s grandmother, in 1906. Though they were the first growers to produce a Single Quinta port from La Rosa's grapes, the family was known exclusively for their farming expertise—selling all their grapes to bigger bodegas like Croft and Sandeman. The family port shipping company, Feueheerd, was sold in the 1930s but La Rosa was kept and run by Sophia’s grandmother, Claire.

In 1988 Sophia and her late father, Tim Bergqvist, decided to restart the family business and launched Quinta de la Rosa, a top-quality port producer, onto the marketplace. Starting in the early 1990s, the Bergqvist family was one of the pioneers in taking table wine production in the Douro region seriously. Quinta de la Rosa’s red and white table wines have won many accolades in the press and are sold in many prestigious restaurants and wine stores around the world.

The Bergqvist family is now known as a pioneer of the Douro. As farmers first, the terroir-driven quality of Quinta de la Rosa’s red wines has been credited with helping put the region on the map for serious oenophiles. The 2002 hiring of Jorge Moreira (a mentee of Dirk Niepoort and now one of the most respected winemakers in Portugal) has only further established the estate’s reputation. Moreira’s obsessive focus on coaxing maximum minerality out of its schist soils is second only to his advocacy of old, native Portuguese varieties.

All eight of Quinta de la Rosa’s single vineyards (a total of 55 hectares) are A-graded. La Rosa is fortunate in having great diversity in its vineyards ranging from altitudes along the banks of the River Douro up to 400 meters above sea level. The older dry stone-walled vineyards are planted with mixed varieties where vines are at least 50 years old and yields as low as 10 hectoliters per hectare. The newer vineyards (‘patamares’) date from the early seventies and are block planted with the approved varieties — Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, and Tinta Cão. This allows head winemaker, Jorge Moreira, and his team to annually produce the highest possible quality of 50,000 liters of port and 100,000 liters of table wine (on average) from grapes of differing physiological attributes. All Quinta de la Rosa wines and Ports are estate grown, estate produced, and estate-bottled. The Quinta de La Rosa ‘house’ style is to make well-defined, elegant wines and ports without over-extraction and without too much tannin or oak. The wines are rich and full-bodied while maintaining freshness and good acidity.

Tasting Notes: Increased aging in old 550l oak pipes has given this magnificent wine enormous elegance and complexity. The beautiful amber colour is befitting of its age. Delicate dried fruit aromas combine with hints of balsamic, coffee and bitter orange. Delicious and intense on the palate, it is incredibly luscious with great length and complexity. 

Reviews

The NV 30 Year Old Tawny Port was aged in old Portuguese pipas (550 liters) and tonels (10,000 liters). It comes in with 126 grams per liter of residual sugar and was bottled in September 2018 with a bar-top cork. This was made to celebrate the Bergqvist family's 30th anniversary running the La Rosa property. It is wonderful. Surprisingly fresh for its age, it is spicy, long on the finish and still complex, this is a wonderful 30 that touches all the bases, then slides into home to score. It does nothing wrong and everything well. It's brilliant. ~95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Friendly plum and cherry cobbler notes form the core of this forward and slightly rustic tawny, with singed alder, licorice root, buckwheat and hazelnut notes emerging through the finish. Gains nuance, with a green tea hint emerging at the end. The rusticity is pleasant, balanced by ample fruit. Decidedly dry in feel for the style. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz. ~92 Wine Spectator

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