Carlos Raposo Vinhos Imperfeitos 'Definido' Branco Dão 2019

Definido Branco is the white flagship of Vinhos Imperfeitos — a profound, age-worthy Dão white from old vineyards across several sub-regions, vines from sixty to well over a hundred years old. A field blend of the region's near-forgotten whites: Encruzado, Malvasia Fina, Uva Cão, Rabo de Ovelha, Branda, Barcelo, Douradinha and more.

Whites carry most of their aromatics in the skins, so selection is everything: hand-picked, sorted, gently pressed and gravity-settled, then fermented in French oak, with part of the wine going through malolactic in the 1962 cement vats.

Light, crystalline citrus in colour. A fresh, mineral profile with the toast of the barrel in tune with a floral, delicate character — sea air, seaweed and white flowers. Tense and vibrant, slightly unctuous, with vivid acidity carrying great elegance and a very long finish of light smoke and salt. Built to reward time in bottle; serve in a Burgundy glass.

Region: Dão, Portugal
Grape Varieties: Old-vine field blend — Encruzado, Malvasia Fina, Uva Cão, Rabo de Ovelha, Branda, Barcelo, Douradinha and others
Vineyards: 60 to 100+ years, granite
Winemaking: French-oak ferment; part malolactic in 1962 concrete
Vegan friendly: Yes

Carlos Raposo, born in the Dão, studied seven years in Bordeaux and Burgundy before spending nearly a decade as Dirk Niepoort's winemaker, shaping icons like Batuta, Coche and Redoma Reserva. In 2018 he returned home to found Vinhos Imperfeitos — "imperfect is perfect" — a tiny, allocation-only range from centenarian Dão vineyards, farmed by ancestral methods and made with almost no intervention: native-yeast ferments, ageing in Puligny-Montrachet barrels and the winery's 1962 concrete vats. His whites became the highest-scored dry Portuguese whites ever (Decanter, 97 points).