Hands up if you’ve ever tried wine made from the Jampal grape. No one? No surprises there, It’s an extremely rare and ancient grape grown solely on the west coast of Portugal. It was bought back from near extinction by winemaker André Manz when his family purchased an old vineyard in the village of Cheleiros in 2004. His Dona Fátima is now the only wine in the world crafted exclusively from Jampal and it’s finally available in tiny quantities in New Zealand. When I say ‘tiny’ I mean this grape is notoriously unproductive. Only 6000 bottles are produced each year. It is the most delicious thing. White gold in the glass and perfumed with mandarin and nashi notes, the exotic citrus then crosses paths on the palate with creamy cashew and biscuity characters. Softly prickly and perfectly textural, its six-month stint in older oak means it finishes with a lift of lemon blossom and buttered toast. I absolutely adore this wine.
