Company´s asset.

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, March 15, 2012 / / 0 comments

C. da Silva´s Company was established in 1862 under the name Corrêa Ribeiro & Filhos and has carried the seal bearer of long time supplier to the Portuguese Royal House.

In 1933, newly arrived from Brazil, Clemente da Silva (C. da Silva´s founder) inherited the Company by marrying with Corrêa Ribeiro´s daughter.

Clemente da Silva has fulfilled a lifetime dream by creating a winemaking business of excelence.
Because he had some capital coming from business ventures in the former Portuguese colony, he opted for starting the Company from scratch and he did it according to his own expectations.

Here is an outstanding living evidence of that time !

A bottle of "Corrêa Ribeiro & Filhos" with the Royal message at the front label, a rareness of long time ago...

Gonçalo Devesas

DALVA Late Bottled Vintage 2007

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Monday, March 12, 2012 / / 0 comments

Late Bottle Vintage was originally a wine that had been destined for bottling as Vintage Port, but because of a lack of demand, was kept in large wooden cask for longer than had been planned.

Late Bottled Vintage ages in cask for a minimum of four and a maximum of six years after the harvest.
Because of this long ageing in wood, the LBV´s are less astringent and full bodied than Vintage ports.

Considered by many the best relationship quality/price, the LBV has the advantage of being ready to drink without decanting.
Typically ready to drink when released to the market, LBV ports are the result of a single year's harvest and tend to be smoother and lighter bodied than a Vintage Port.

Late Bottled Vintage 2007

Presently the LBV 2007 that we´re selling has been aged for 5 years in oak vats, showing a smoother taste and a garnet color.
Our latest Late Bottled Vintage, harvested in 2007.

On the nose: blackfruits and licorice...

On the palate: Pulpy, blackberry´s jam, some herbal and spicy hints at the end... great relationship quality/price.

Gonçalo Devesas

Primordial red grape varietals

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, February 09, 2012 / / 0 comments

There is a wide range of grape varietals in the Demarcated Douro region, in the north of Portugal.
These grape varietals have been adapted to different climate conditions, and micro-climates... the terroir ability to offer optimal conditions to wines.

The native varietals have been grafted with different types of rootstocks since that philoxera (pest that destroyed most of the vineyards all over Europe) reached to Portugal in 1865.
This process has been done according to their compatibility with different types of roots and the characteristics of the soil in which the vines were planted.
The cultivation of the different types of vines is regulated by a Decret-Law, that lists all the authorized varietals, the  recommended ones and percentages.

Nowadays, winemakers and oenologues have opted for five red grapes varietals ( Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Tinta Barroca...)

Touriga Nacional

Touriga Nacional -  It is the premier grape varietal in the Douro valley, considered a primary grape in the Port Blend. The tiny grapes presents us with very high tanins (therefore it confers an amazing age hability to wines), offering a great colour and structure. It has aromas/flavors of black fruits, violets and elegant tints of herbs and licorice. It is a low yielding grape.

Tinta Roriz

Tinta Roriz - (aka Tempranillo in Spain)  Aromas/flavors of resin, raspberry, cherry and spices (brambly character). Thanks to its thick rind it may be planted in the hotter areas, where the sun exposition is more intense.



Touriga Francesa

Touriga Francesa or Franca - It is a high yielding grape varietal, it was brought to Portugal in the 11th century and it is a descendant of the Pinot Noir. It provides complexity and elegance to the blend, although less coloured and lighter. Floral aromas and flavors of blackberry, with silky tanins. Very important for the wine ageing... it would reach its potential with a dry and hot climate.

Tinta Barroca

Tinta Barroca - A very resistant grape varietal, maybe planted in the cooler areas, like for example, on the top of the slopes turned to north. flavors and aromas of plums and cherry. If picked with a good maturation, would have a great potential for high alcohol and sugar. It provides a lingering finish. High yielding grape.

Tinto cão

Tinta cão - The less used for the Port blend (the less planted too). It has a great balance in terms of sugar, tanins and acidity.

Even if a low yielding grape it offers floral aromas, fresh acidity, velvety texture and very rich and dense wines, with finesse.

Gonçalo Devesas

DALVA Reserva DOC DOURO 2009

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Monday, February 06, 2012 / / 0 comments

After the enormous success of the DALVA Colheita DOC DOURO 2008...
DALVA Reserva DOC DOURO 2009 is an elegant wine, here the aromas of ripe fruits and subtle oak combine in a delightful and persistent bouquet.

DALVA Reserva DOC tinto 2009

Produced with the most emblematic grape varieties from the Douro´s Demarcated Region, such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca, this Reserve has been aged in small french and american oak pipes.

The wine is ready to be consumed now, with spicy grills or roasts, or can be stored for up to ten years in a cellar, increasing its complexity.
Best served about 16 to 18ºC.

Gonçalo Devesas

C. da Silva´s Winery

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Saturday, January 21, 2012 / / 0 comments

With the sales increasing and the need to escape from dependency on the producers from whom the bulk wines were purchased, but also the aim of a better quality control, a peace of land with vines was acquired in the Quinta dos Avidagos at Alvações do Corgo.

There, in order to assure quality control a winery was built in 1970.

Since then the production of C. da Silva Port Wines was started originating in grapes purchase directly from different farms in the various places in the demarcated region.

The vinification was made by the traditional methods, some of them still in use nowadays for the production of the Vintage Ports.
Actually this winery is substantially different from the original one. In fact in 1998/1999 a complete change was implemented, not only at a structural level but also at a quality one, representing an investment exceeding 2.500.000 Euros.

The production capacity was doubled reaching 3.000.000 litres that are vinified in the most modern set of temperature controlled vats. A careful selection grape insures superb quality in each harvest.
The wine remains in the winery until February/March of the year following the Vintage when they are transported to C. da Silva warehouses in Vila Nova de Gaia. 

It is in the City of Vila Nova de Gaia and within the «Entreposto» area established by law that C. da Silva has its cellars in a location exceeding 10.000 square meters.

It is in this place a annual stock of 10.000.000 liters of Port Wine are stored, in dozens of aerial and underground vats and about 2.900 french oak casks where the best Colheitas are ageing dating back many years ago - as well as about 130.000 bottles of Vintages and Late Bottled Vintages of different famous years. 

Gonçalo Devesas

DALVA VINTAGE 2009

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Wednesday, January 11, 2012 / / 0 comments

Vintage... it is always a very hard task to produce/declare this Port wine, mostly when thinking about the year 2009, anyway, giving rise to Ports with great age ability.

On taste: The DALVA Vintage 2009 presents you with an incredible purple colour, very dark, intense aroma, quite floral, reminiscent of berries taste and strawberry. Lively and strong, but with well integrated polished tannins,a long finish and peppered.

Cellaring: Bottles should lie down, in a cool dark place. Ages slowly, maturing in the bottle for decades.

Serving: Perfect for drinking on its own, amazing when paired with blue cheeses, dark chocolate, foie-gras and game. Decant and serve between 16º and 18º, in an appropriate glass... the Siza Vieira´s glass.

Gonçalo Devesas

DALVA GOLDEN WHITE 197... ?

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Friday, January 06, 2012 / / 0 comments



Can you guess the missing number ?

The GOLDEN WHITE will always be a category, an elite Port, related with the brand DALVA and the House C. da Silva (Vinhos) S.A.

The most emblematic White Port wine, internacionaly recognized and acclaimed by the most prestigious Wine critics, DALVA GOLDEN WHITE 1952 will be eternally recognized as an historic milestone, the breaking point for White Ports, a Port category known as the baseline of Port wines, with a instantaneous idea of drinking it in a tumbler as a cocktail or Port tonic... but why ?

The White Ports, with different sugar levels, have iniciated its trading in the eighties, always like an aperitif with almost any complexity, lower than its brothers Tawny and Ruby of Premium quality (Late Bottled Vintage; Vintage; Colheita and Aged Tawny).

In 2005, the DALVA GOLDEN WHITE 1952 rowed against a very strong tide, initiating a remarkable path, considered today the White Ports flagship.
A single harvest White Port, previously known as blending Ports with an average about ten years old and aged in huge oak or stainless stell vats.

The DALVA GOLDEN WHITE 1952 has initiated and its being kept in small seasoned french oak pipes, maturing as a single harvest Tawny or Aged Tawny through an evaporating and oxidative process.
But, beyond the inovating concept, investiment, and a long ageing process, the most extraordinary characteristic is on the tasting.

The aromatic concentration is remarkable and exciting, silky texture, an amazing bouquet... caramel, baked pear, caramelized orange, stewed figs, cinnamon, walnuts, sweet spices... really intense and unforgettable !

This growing sucess led the DALVA GOLDEN WHITE 1952 to two serial numbers: 1141 (the number of the last cask of GOLDEN WHITE 1952) and 410 (the last remaining liters of this nectar).
In 2009, with a sucess inherited by its ancestor, C. da Silva has launched a new DALVA GOLDEN WHITE, harvested in 1963.

A serious commitment of launching a GOLDEN WHITE per decade, whith a new surprise for 2012, the promissed GOLDEN WHITE harvested in the seventies.

Gonçalo Devesas