Tinto Colheita 2018, Quinta dos Roques, Dao

Ruby colour, brilliant, with an intense fruit bouquet reminding wild blackcurrants, pine leaves and spice, with vanilla notes given by the oak. On the palate it is very generous, good structure with the astringence characteristic of its youth foretelling a wonderful ageing potential.

The leading (small) estate in the Dao revolution. At around 450m, Quinta dos Roques lies in the Dao heartland, just outside Abrunhosa do Mato.

Luis and Luisa Lourenco lead this family estate, producing a wide array of meticulously assembled wines, where both traditional blending, and avrietal offerings both excel. The Touriga Nacioanl here is often cited as Portugal’s finest, while Quinta dos Roques Encruzado is regularly rated as one of the country’s leading dry white wines.

But perhaps the estate is best judged by Quinta dos Roques Tinto, a classic, Touriga-inspired, Dao red, which won the International Wine Challenge Portuguese Red Wine Trophy in 2014 (for the 2011 vintage).

“A very strange year! Following a normal winter in terms of rain and cold, it came a wet and cold
spring and begining of summer which led to a difficult fruit set and high pressure from mildew. With lots of care and an attentive cannopy management, our vineyards cope very well with these adverse conditions but nothing prepared us for the extreme heat, with temperatures of 45+ ºC during 4 days, that came in the beginning of August which caused a severe sun burnt and consequent loss of lots of bunches, especially in the Gouveio and Cerceal white varieties and Alfrocheiro and Touriga Nacional in the reds.
Since Aug. 5 and through all the harvest (18/9 to 18/10) the weather was great with temperatures
around 30 ºC which allowed a good maturation of the grapes and a very good balance in terms of
sugar and acids. If we can complain about the quantity which is much lower than desired, we are very happy with the quality of both whites and reds. “