Castello D'Alba Reserva Red Wine

Reviews and awards:
17 points Wine Magazine;
16.5 points Grandes Escolhas Wine;
Recommended by the Decanter World Wine Awards 2013 (Other colheitas );
Silver Medal, International Wine Challenge 2013 (Other colheitas );
Recommended by the Decanter World Wine Awards 2012 (Other colheitas ).

ORIGIN - Grapes from vineyards planted in the Upper Douro using dryland farming (non-irrigated vines), at an average altitude of 300 meters, from vines with an average age of around 20 years, generally planted on terraces with a predominantly East/North exposure. We seek a selection of grapes that allows us to obtain concentrated, very aromatic and rich wines with good structure, of a gastronomic character that well represent the "terroir" of the Upper Douro, with its notes of rockrose and very elegant black fruits and spices.

VINIFICATION - Manual harvesting, reception with total destemming and immediate crushing, the grapes are fermented by variety and by batch, so that from an early stage a rigorous selection can be made that will later give rise to the "blend", very traditional in the old world, revealing the art of selecting grapes by parcel and the art of selecting wines to then blend. Fermentation takes place in small-capacity stainless steel tanks, with temperatures around 28ºC. Gentle and controlled macerations are used to obtain elegant and aromatic wines.

AGING - 50% of the batch is aged for a period of 8 months in used French oak barrels and the remaining 50% in stainless steel tanks.

Intense aroma of great complexity, with aromas of wild berries and rockrose from the Touriga Franca, spices and red fruits from the Tinta Roriz, and very fresh and elegant floral notes of violet from the Touriga Nacional. Eight months of aging in French oak barrels impart the aging notes of a great Douro wine with a modern and international profile. On the palate it is fresh and enveloping, with very smooth, noble tannins, and a long, persistent finish.