2016 Contraste White Conceito

Parker-Squires 90: 2017-2023, The 2016 Contraste Branco is a field blend fermented in stainless steel tanks (70%) and new French oak barrels (30%). It comes in at 13% alcohol. This handles its modest wood treatment (70% stainless steel, the rest used wood) perfectly. It is barely noticeable. It has good volume for the level and the good freshness I anticipate here, too. Its round and relatively concentrated and full feel is impressive at its level this year, but it is always elegant, too. There is good acidity supporting everything. Then, it finishes with some tension and some traces of herbs. This should age well for the level in good years like this and the 2015. I do like to be conservative in such things, so we'll take that a bit slowly for the moment, while noting that they may surprise us. Rita Marques (winemaker) and her mother own Conceito. The total production has grown to around 180,000 bottles, hardly gigantic. The quality remains high and they are very consistent from year to year. Regarding recent vintages, Rita said to me that she was "quite happy with our recent results. 2015 was a great year for our part of Douro, both for reds and for whites. As years go by I noticed little subtleties in different harvests. For instance, I was a bit surprised that 2016 ended up as a better year for Port, since 2015 was so perfect for everything. Another example, being a fan of the 2015 whites as I am—Unico white is such a special wine for me—I now tend to believe that 2016 whites may overcome the 2015s with time. I've seen this in 'lesser' vintages in the past. It seems the whites in those years keep their freshness longer, maybe because they are less phenolic." Well, I'm not so sure about that, but it seems both vintages have a lot of excellent white choices.