15/07/2026 - New: Barca Velha's twin sister - 2017 Reserva Especial

With stocks of 2015 Barca Velha almost depleted (i have just one case left), I am delighted to offer it’s non-identical twin sister, the newly released Reserva Especial 2017.

Many wines the world over are whimsically suffixed ‘Reserva’ or ‘Especial’ for marketing reasons and to rather lazily imply a superior quality. However, the Casa Ferreirinha Reserva Especial really is a ‘Special Reserve’ in every sense of the two words, as it is essentially a declassified Barca Velha, with many of the hallmarks of Portugal’s ‘First Growth’, and the difference in quality is far, far smaller than the difference in price!

Only produced in truly exceptional vintages, the Reserva Especial is made in exactly the same way as Barca Velha, from a blend of 45% Touriga Franca , 30% Touriga Nacional, 15% Tinta Roriz, 10% Tinto Cão from prime plots on the Quinta da Leda estate, with some fruit sourced from neighbouring vineyards at slightly higher altitude. 2017 is the first vintage ever to contain some Sousao, which lends a lovely inkiness to the wine. The first vintage of the Reserva Especial was the 1960 and the 2017 was only the 19^th vintage released.

The grapes are all hand-picked, rigorously sorted, and vinified separately (by grape variety or by vineyard plot) at the Quinta da Leda winery. A cold pre-fermentation maceration and an extended post-fermentation maceration on the skins ensure full aromatic and polyphenolic extraction – enhancing the wines’ smooth tannin structure and pronounced flavours. Following fermentation, the wine is transferred to cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, where it undergoes 12 to 18 months of ageing in 225-litre new French oak barrels before bottling.

Both wines essentially start as the same liquid, and after its ageing in barrel, it is transferred to unlabelled bottles to be tasted regularly by the team, who will decide over the next decade, or so, whether to bottle as Barca Velha, as Reserva Especial or to simply declassify the wine. And this is not a decision taken lightly - since 1960, only 21 vintages of Barca Velha and 19 vintages of Reserva Especial have been released. James Suckling has called it a "Superb Douro Red" and the "Latour of the Douro". Previously declared vintages include 1960, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2014.

No critic's notes or scores are yet out for the 2017, but i having tasted the wine alongside a glorious, 10-year old bottle of 2007 with the winemaker at lunch yesterday, i am expecting some big scores!

2017 VINTAGE REPORT
 
In the words of head winemaker Luís Sottomayor,“The 2017 revealed an extraordinary character from the very first moment.”
 
The 2017 vintage in the Douro was particularly warm and dry, with average temperatures 5ºC higher than average, and almost every month from December 2016 to August 2017 recording below average rainfall. These conditions accelerated the growing cycle of the vines and, coupled with heat waves in June and July, also advanced the ripening of the grapes. The resulting harvest was one of the earliest on record, beginning on 22nd August.
 
Luís Sottomayor made the decision to declare 2017 ‘Reserva Especial’ in January 2026, marking the 19^th vintage of ‘Reserva Especial’ produced.

Casa Ferreirinha Reserva Especial 2017, Douro, 3x750ml

£660.00 IB

Maestro of the Douro Superior, Luís co-ferments grapes from higher and lower vineyard plots, creating‘mini’ or ‘soloist’ wines. These are later blended into the final grand wine, which represents, in the words of Matthew Jukes,“to all intents and purposes, a ‘choir of soloists’”.
 
The Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Sousão, Tinta Cão and Tinta Roriz grapes were hand-harvested and vinified at the gravity-fed Quinta da Leda winery. They were co-fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks before the wine was transferred to the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, where it matured for 18 months in French oak barrels, 75% of which were new. The final blend was assembled from a selection of the finest barrels, then aged for a further seven years in bottle before release. The final blend comprises 48% Touriga Franca, 35% Touriga Nacional, 7% Sousão, 5% Tinta Cão and 5% Tinta Roriz.

The 2017 vintage is the first ‘Reserva Especial’ to include Sousão in the blend, lending a subtle inkiness, deep colour and vibrant acidity.