Lagoalva 'Monte da Casta' Branco 2006

Ribatejo, Portugal, MOP90, diam cork seal
It's only three weeks to Macao Marathon and it's all beginning to look a little terrifying. Apart from concerns over the obvious lack of fitness, there's a serious chance that I'll run out of coffee and this was the last bottle of Portuguese wine in the house. I enjoyed this wine's red sibling a little while ago; and while this label is almost identical it does unfortunately lack the horses. It's made by the Quinta da Lagoalva winery whose useless website promotes ice-cream and agricultural machinery and says nothing about their wines. The more informative back label tells me it's a blend of Arinto, Chardonnay and Fernão Pires.

It's a lovely light golden colour. The nose has an initial burst of peach, buttery oak and tropical fruits, but very soon it's all aboard the melon train. There are traces of the lush tropical fruit on the palate, but the prominent flavours are red apples complimented with almonds. The alcohol in this is seamlessly integrated, but what's most impressive is the long, long finish. 'Monte da Casta' Branco 2006 is in many ways a great food wine: it's tasty, full, yet still fresh and lively. Good drinking; I like this a lot.