Quinta do Piloto Moscatel de Setúbal Coleção da Família 50cl

Quinta do Piloto Moscatel de Setúbal Coleção de Família is a fortified wine of intense topaz with olive-green tints. With the barrels last topped up in 1996, the nose is very complex and exuberant, with notes of honey, nuts, coffee and tobacco, hints of surrounding vegetation and subtle spicy aromas recalling curry. On the palate it's clearly aged and rare, with a dense consistency from sugars concentrated over the years. It finishes with vibrant acidity for a unique, memorable tasting.

The Wine Advocate
RP 95
Reviewed by: Mark Squires

The NV Moscatel de Setúbal Coleção da Família (the blue label; the Roxo version has a white label) is, this time, the 2021 bottling. It has 295 grams per litre of residual sugar, a bar-top cork and almost 17% alcohol. The winery says that in the early 20th century, when Humberto da Silva Cardoso bought Quinta do Piloto, he “set aside 10 small 50-litre barrels for himself, which he filled with the best moscatel from his estates. Since then, this moscatel has stayed in the shade of the Quinta do Piloto cellar, reserved only for the family. Year after year, four generations have followed the ritual of filling each barrel with the best of each vintage.”

The last addition to this solera-style Moscatel was in 2002, as with the last version I reviewed, but the barrel has been topped up twice since with portions of the 2002 vintage (25 more litres each time). Although it's a non-vintage wine, with different blends of years in each release, it comes with a booklet that includes the bottling date. Unfortunately, that isn't shown on the outside. Only 35 bottles are released each year.

Quite elegant, this wine still has plenty of concentration, but also surprising finesse for the category. If you're looking for one of those more syrupy styles, this isn't it. Even so, the concentration is clearly there and the unctuous texture stands out. The mid-palate finesse is surprisingly good and the flavours are glorious, with a touch of spice. This is a star, still well preserved and young, with no sign of tired fruit. The price is a bit high, but setting that aside, the wine delivers everything it promises.