Raposeira – White Sparkling Wine Review
With Christmas coming, it’s time to start thinking about fizz. While Spain has its Cava, Italy has Prosecco and France, obviously, has the champagne, it may be a surprise to some that in amongst the Portugal wine selection, there is a choice of more-than-acceptable fizzy options. One of the most well known ranges is Raposeira.
Raposeira is available in a selection of “reserva” or “super reserva” variations, with tastes ranging from sweet to very dry.
This review concentrates on Raposeira Super Reserva, in the dry (bruto) variation. If you are interested in sweet fizzy wine you may have to look elsewhere as you are unlikely to find me testing it out (memories of teenage over-indulgence in cheap Lambrusco mean that I don’t go near the sweet stuff.)
This bottle costs around €8, and in Raposeira terms is at the posher end of the scale (the normal “reserva” is just €5.)
You will see from the photo that the wine has won a couple of medals in international competitions, which is always a good sign.
A satisfying pop is followed by a glass full of thick bubbles and the taste is fresh, dry and appley . This is reassuring as some cheap fizz has an over-oaky taste that makes me think of hangover as soon as I drink it.
Served to some guests recently with a plate of smoked salmon, everyone around the table agreed that with this available in Portugal, snobbery would be the only reason not to serve it instead of champagne (at five or more times the price.)
This suits me just fine, as I live in Portugal on a limited budget, so, from me at least, Raposeira gets a big thumbs-up.