Wines such as Quinta Vale D. Maria Vinha Francisca demonstrate that the Douro is capable of producing wines of exceptional freshness, maintaining body, balance, elegance and intense aromas.
The 2018/2019 viticultural year was particularly atypical: extremely dry, but unusually warm. Thus, the vines were able to withstand summer stress despite the lack of water reserves in the soil. As the heat only manifested between the end of August and the beginning of September, there was no loss of production due to scalding or dehydration. The harvest started in early September and continued until October 10th. The fact that the year was fresh allowed for a slow maturation. In this way, it was possible to choose the ideal time to harvest each vineyard parcel, creating vintage 2019 DOC Douro wines of excellent quality.
Grape origins: In 2004, the year of our daughter Francisca’s 18th birthday, we planted Vinha da Francisca (Francisca’s Vineyard) with several different grape varieties – Tinta Francisca, Touriga Franca, Sousão, Rufete and Touriga Nacional – in an area of 4,5 hectares.
Vinification and aging: All the grapes are picked by hand, carefully selected on the mat of choice and de-stemmed before entering the granite presses. All the grapes are crushed in lagares and then fermented for 7 to 10 days at temperatures of 22ºC to 27ºC in the lagares with manual pumping over. The wines are taken clean into new 225L French oak barrels, barrels of different characteristics (Seguin Moreau, François Frères, Taransaud, Nadalie and Berthomieu), where the malolactic fermentation takes place. Aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak barrels. The final selection of barrels and the composition of the batch takes place about a month before bottling.
Tasting notes: With exceptional freshness, Quinta Vale D. Maria Vinha da Francisca 2019 is known for its elegance. With a great depth of color, this wine seduces by the concentration of aroma of ripe red fruits, black cherry, plum and raspberry. Elegance and freshness announce a long and creamy finish.
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