Terroir expression is ‘greater in young wines’

Terroir expression is “greater in young wines” according to Douro Valley winemaker José Luís Moreira da Silva, who would like to release his wines with less bottle age.

The jaw-droppingly beautiful Douro Valley

Speaking to db during a recent visit to the Douro, Moreira da Silva of Quinta dos Murças said: “I believe that terroir expression is greater in young wines as they have better fruit expression.

“With age comes complexity but wines get more similar with time. You find more nuances in young wines – they are more pure and wild and you can taste the place where they came from and the earth in which the grapes are grown.”

José Luís Moreira da Silva of Quinta dos Murças

Moreira da Silva is so passionate about young wines that he’d like to be able to release some of the wines he makes onto the market sooner.

“We’ve had a big discussion about this at the estate. Our Minas red blend goes on sale nine months after being made, but I’d like to see it hit the market even sooner.

“I’m pushing for Minas to be bottled younger as it’s ready after five months,” he told db.

He believes the time is ripe to put dry Douro wines on the map and is pushing for individual villages within the Douro Valley’s three sub-regions to be recognised.

“I’m fighting for the identity of each of the Douro’s sub-regions and would like there to be an official recognition of village appellations like there is in Burgundy. This is the future of the Douro Valley. I believe it will happen,” he said.

As for blends versus single varietal wines, Moreira da Silva favours the former. “If you want an expression of a place rather than a grape then field blends are ideal as the individual grapes don’t influence the final character of the wine. Terroir is always stronger than grapes,” he told db.

José Luís believes the Douro Valley has a golden opportunity to offer something exciting and different to the market due to its bounty of native grapes.

“Dry winemakers in the Douro have greater freedom than Port producers and a wealth of grapes to work with. The wines being taken increasingly seriously around the world and we’re surfing the wave of popularity at the moment.

“We need to show off our diversity of terroirs and grapes and offer consumers something new styles for a variety of drinking occasions,” he said.