CH By Chocapalha Branco

A wine that nods to it’s Swiss roots whilst being undoubtably Portuguese. A great alternative to white burgundy, it’s incredibly elegant and a great food wine.

Lisboa, Portugal.

Old vines, vegan/veggie, ageing potential.

12.5%

75cl

Please note: technical information such as vintage and ABV are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please get in touch.

MORE INFORMATION

Producer

Paulo and Alice Tavares da Silva bought this historic Quinta in the late Eighties and immediately set about investing in the property. When their daughter Sandra, once a top model, proved to be a prodigiously talented winemaker, the family launched their own wines and, in 2000, Chocapalha was born. The name CH ticks two boxes, the Ch of Chocapalha, of which the family is justifiably proud and Alice Tavares’s Swiss origins

Viticulture

Quinta de Chocapalha is nestled in the undulating hills that extend down to the Tagus River, under the Serra de Montejunto mountain range. It’s a lush area of green fields, not only of vineyards, and the blue ocean. They have around 70 hectares, 46 of which are planted with vineyards. They also have the Pêra Rocha pear orchard, with ‘Pêra Rocha do Oeste’ Protected Designation of Origin, which occupies 4.5 hectares. The remaining area is various woodlands, some of which are extremely old (some thought to date back to the 14th century) and olive trees along the estate’s boundaries.

Grapes for this wine come from some of the estates oldest vineyards and vines planted at around 660ft asl. Slopes have good exposure and the soils are made up of calcareous (calcium rich) clay.

Winemaking

100%  Arinto. The grapes are fermented in French oak barrels and undergo a long 18 day fermentation at low temperatures. After this, the wine stays in the barrels where it is aged for 9 months with “batonnage”.

Taste

Very fine and elegant, with citric and minerals notes. It shows excellent acidity, good texture and very long aftertaste.

Food Pairing

There’s no need to rush drinking this, it has amazing aging capacity but it’ll pair fantastically with poultry or richly flavoured cheeses. Try at Christmas with roast turket and the post dinner cheeseboard.