Reserve wine is usually associated with quality. The characteristics of a reserve wine may vary from country to country and even from region to region within Portugal. A reserve wine was a wine that followed a certain maturing time and has a good aging capacity.
The different entities that certify each region's wines give the designation of reserve not only for the time the wine has been aged, but also for its organoleptic characteristics. In the organoleptic evaluation, one looks for greater aromatic complexity, which is usually the result of maturing in wood, and a higher structure and volume in the wine.
A reserve wine is one that has been aged for a certain period of time in stainless steel, barrels, or bottles. In the case of the wines in our online shop, reserve means wines aged in oak barrels for between 10 and 24 months. Generally, these are wines with greater aromatic complexity, there being a combination of primary fruit aromas and tertiary aromas, as well as wines with more volume, texture and dimension on the palate.
A reserve wine, as it is a wine that has been aged for some time, has greater complexity. The choice of a reserve wine is undoubtedly an important issue. In the case of white wines, one looks for more unctuous, buttery wines, generally to pair with baked dishes.
As for red wines, the choice of a reserve wine depends more on the region, since the reserve wines from the Douro have more texture and a rougher tannin than the Alentejo reserve wines, which have more volume and a soft but present tannin. Examples of this are our Maçanita Reserva from the Douro and our Palpite Tinto from Alentejo that you can find in our online shop.