🏷️ Reserva (Portugal)

Reserva (Portugal) is a Portuguese label term for a wine of better quality that has been aged. Reserva is a Portuguese label term for wine of better quality with ageing. The word means "reserve". It is put on vintage wines that the producer has singled out as especially successful. The rules are as follows. The wine must come from a single vintage, have slightly higher alcohol than the minimum for the area, and pass assessment by a tasting panel. Ageing matters too: red is usually aged longer than ordinary wine. The Reserva mark belongs to the classifications of wine in Portugal. Above it stands garrafeira, with an even longer ageing period, including time in the bottle. Reserva is simpler and more common. It does not replace the geographical designation but complements it: the bottle first names the area, for example Douro, and then the level. For a buyer, Reserva is a hint that the wine has been selected by the producer and aged longer. However, different producers may understand the word differently, so it is worth reading the details on the label.