Casa Santos Lima “Valcatrina” Rose

The winery behind this pink pleasure, Casa Santos Lima, is now in its 5th generation, with winemaker Diogo Sepúlveda leading the way. In the past few years, Casa Santos Lima has been one of the most awarded Portuguese wineries in major national and international wine competitions–not just for their rosé, but for for a handful of other delicious and affordable wines. In fact, the winery has become well known especially for making wines that represent a fantastic balance between quality and price. That’s one of the wonderful beauties of Portuguese wines in general, really, if you know where to look. 

The Valcatrina rosé comes from the Alentejo region in the south of Portugal–known especially for its red varieties. It’s a rosé that boldly celebrates the Portuguese grape Touriga Nacional, blended with Syrah, and made using the best parcels of fruit. You can tell the quality when you taste it–the perfect amount of flavourful and expressive berry characters along with clean minerality, a touch of texture that does something wonderful on the tongue, and the sort of mouthwatering acidity that finishes each sip on a high note. A classy, but also very guzzleable rosé.