Quinta de Cidro Gewurztraminer
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2023
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
spicy Asian cuisine, aromatic chicken curry, Munster cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
Quinta de Cidro, located in São João da Pesqueira within the Cima Corgo subregion, is one of Real Companhia Velha's most experimental estates. Historically a traditional Douro property, it was transformed into a pioneering site for international grape varieties. Situated at a high altitude of approximately 600 meters, the vineyards benefit from cool breezes that mitigate the intense Douro heat, creating a unique microclimate. This terroir allows cool-climate varieties like Gewurztraminer to thrive. The wine represents a bold departure from Portuguese tradition, showcasing intense, classic aromatic profiles of lychee, rose petals, and sweet spices, balanced by a surprising mineral backbone derived from the estate's transition from schistose to granitic soils. It is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to preserve its intense primary aromatics.
🍾 About the Producer
Established on September 10, 1756, by Royal Charter of King D. José I under the auspices of the Marquis of Pombal, Real Companhia Velha stands as Portugal's oldest continuously operating wine company. Entrusted originally with demarcating and regulating the Douro Valley, the company was acquired by the Silva Reis family in 1960. Today, under President Pedro Silva Reis and celebrated head winemaker Jorge Moreira, Real Companhia Velha oversees more than 550 hectares across historic quintas such as Das Carvalhas, De Cidro, Dos Aciprestes, and Do Casal da Granja. While famous for benchmark Port, the house pioneered fine Douro still whites, capitalizing on high-elevation schist and granite plateaus with wide diurnal shifts. Estate whites—most prominently the Quinta de Cidro mono-varietals and field blends spanning Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Alvarinho, and Sémillon (Boal)—rely on precision viticulture and parcel-specific vinification. These wines demonstrate remarkable tension, vibrant natural acidity, and an authentic, mineral-driven reflection of the rugged Douro landscape.
🍇 Grapes
Gewurztraminer
🍷 ABV
13% - 13.5%