Vale Dona Maria Tinto Farm

Reviews and awards:
18.5 points Wine Magazine;
18.5 points Grandes Escolhas Wine.

Harvest/Winemaking : All our grapes were foot-trodden in lagares (traditional stone troughs) for 1 to 3 days before fermentation, and then fermented in any of several vats for 7 to 10 days at temperatures ranging from 22° to 27° Celsius, using hand-stirring. We then created the resulting wines in new 225- and 300-liter French Allier oak barrels from various tanneries (Seguin Moreau, François Frères, Taransaud, Louis Latour, and Berthomieu), where they undergo malolactic fermentation. All wines are carefully aged for 21 months in barrels (75% new and 25% one-year-old French oak), keeping all the different fermentations completely separate until the final blending, approximately one month before bottling.

Taste: Great balance and acidity, intense and velvety, with the delicacy and elegance so traditional of Quinta Vale D. Maria Douro Red.

Aroma: With a good concentration of ripe aromas of dark red fruits, black cherries and plums, and aromatic and fruity notes.