2017 Gota Prunus Private Selection Branco Dao DOC Portugal 750 ml

It was the 2017 Gota Prunus Branco’s beautiful label that first stood out, though the wine’s striking complexity and balance soon followed suit. And once we learned it was a sample with the potential to import, we placed our order on the spot.

The 2017 Gota Prunus Private Selection Branco is the ultimate expression of the Dão, a region we can’t get enough of—and home to what Decanter calls “the best of Portugal’s white wines.” High praise, considering that white wines are part of the psyche of that seafood-loving coastal nation. Far too few make their way abroad.

Luckily, this one did. So complex and generous right off the bat, the 2017 Gota Prunus Branco is an immediate eyebrow-raiser and “mmm” inducer, with cascading white and yellow floral aromas followed by crisp green apple, juicy stone fruit, and an intriguing hint of Buddha's hand citrus on the mid-palate. Heightened by a mouthwatering minerality, the zesty white’s pepper-tinged acidity carries through the impressively long finish.

We discovered this wine at a Napa Valley holiday party brimming with importers and wine experts. The host, well known for heading a few highly decorated wineries back in the day, has since become celebrated for the compelling European wines he’s introduced stateside.

Most people outside of Portugal associate the country with fortified ports and robust dry reds. But recent years have seen sommeliers and value-hunters alike falling hard for white wines from the Dão region. These sleeper bottlings only make up a tiny portion of Portugal’s vast wine production, so whenever we see them, we pounce They’ve got the sunny fruit of California Sauvignon Blanc, the zesty verve of Italian Vermentino—and none of the prohibitive pricing.

As Wine Enthusiast puts it, “Portugal’s wines have a great advantage on the global stage, [and] the selection of excellent wines available at a fraction of the price of almost any other region is astonishing.” Gota’s Dão valley vineyards boast a winemaking tradition that dates back over 4,000 years. Traces left by the Romans and Moors prove the valley’s history, and Wine Enthusiast recently reported that “the best winemaking traditions, some of which date back to the Roman era, have been maintained.” The region’s granite soil is likely to thank, producing wines that have always been driven by minerality and structure. So if it ain’t broke...

Fusing tradition with modernity, 2017 Gota Prunus Branco epitomizes the current mood for refreshing yet complex white wines. Decanter put it best: “Portuguese white wines have come of age during an era that prizes freshness, restraint and intrinsic personality, emphasizing the country’s diverse terroir and native grapes, not winemaking artefact.” It was that very intrinsic personality that brought this wine to our attention.