Wine History:

Grape Origins:

Grapes used for Quinta Vale D. Maria Douro Reds come from all the oldest plots of the Quinta and that are the original 10 hectares of the Quinta. They average 60 years of age and are planted with 41 different grape varieties, among them Tinta Amarela, Rufete, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Francisca, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Sousão, and many others. The vineyards face mainly South, however there are plots that also face South East, South West, East and West. We have divided the Quinta into separate parcels or vineyards and given them different names. All vines are treated with sustainable agriculture practices, using horsetail, organic compounds, sea weeds and nettles to prevent fungal diseases, nurture the soil and sustainably create healthier plants.

Conditions:

The viticulture year of 2013 started in the winter of 2012 with quite a bit of rain, particularly during January and February. March saw the strongest rainfall (176mm of rain). The soil had water replaced after two years of very dry weather. April and May were quite cool, which delayed the vegetative cycle for almost two weeks. June, July and August were nearly completely dry months, with higher than average temperatures. The little rainfall did not affect the vineyard too much, as the Douro vines are very adaptable to adverse circumstances and are able to find water in very deep soils. The grape maturation delayed almost 10 days in relation to the average annual registries and we began the harvest for our white wines on the 13th of September and for our red wines, a week later than average, on the 20th. The Harvest happened under great sunshine for the first few weeks. By the end of September it rained, which made us stop picking for a few days. Picking restarted after Eastern winds dried up the grapes and the harvest continued under sunny weather.

Vinification and aging:

We have divided the field in different parcels (or plots) and will pick all grapes by hand. Grapes are then selected before entering the winery. They are de-stemmed and foot trodden in granite lagars for 1 to 3 days. Each parcel or plot will ferment separately either in the granite lagars or / and in the stainless steel tanks. Wines in lagar will have foot treading every night, whilst the stainless steel tanks will undergo manual pump-overs. We then rack the resulting wines in new Allier French oak 300-liter casks from various coopers (Seguin Moreau, François Frères, Taransaud, Nadalie and Berthomieu), where they go through malolactic fermentation. All wines are then carefully aged for 21 months in barriques (60% new and 40% one year old), keeping all different fermentations completely separated until the final blending takes place, just about one month before the bottling of the wines.

Bottling:

August 2015, in 17,798 75cl bottles and 445 1.5l Magnums.

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