2018 Quinta da Pellada Tinto, Dão, Portugal

ABOUT THIS WINE

Quinta da Pellada Tinto is one of the calling cards of Alvaro and Maria Castro’s estate in Dão. The vines average 70 years or more, grown in traditional field blend style: some 40 different varieties, mainly Alvarelhao, Tinta Pinheira, Touriga Naçional, Jaen and Tinta Amarela. Minimal intervention with pristine raw materials is the hallmark of this age-worthy red. Only the best parcels from Pellada go into this wine; both are adjacent to the 16th-century house, where enormous boulders of granite studded with quartz are found scattered across the property. Old vine field blend of some 40 different varieties, mainly Alvarelhão, Tinta Pinheira, Touriga Naçional, Jaen and Tinta Amarela. Average vine age of 75 years. Planted to granite, sand and quartz at an average altitude of 500m (1,640 ft) above sea level. The grapes are macerated for 10 days in cold temperatures to maximize its elegant aromas. It then experiences spontaneous, native yeast co-fermentation in stainless vats, after which it is aged for 24 months in used large format French oak barrels (5 to 7 years old). Fined and filtered before bottling. This is a vegan wine. 

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Dão is quickly becoming the most sought-after region for Portuguese winemakers to venture into; according to many, it’s one of the world’s most perfect microclimates: mountains protect it from continental heat to the east and Douro’s heat to north, and cool Atlantic breezes come inland to keep the overall temperatures more regulated, making for wines with bright acidity, ethereal aromatics, and compelling complexity. The DO’s granitic soils allow indigenous grapes to shine through in the wines, and provide firm, crunchy tannin against the bright fruit. Alvaro Castro has noted that “if God were to design a wine-growing region, what he would come up with would look a lot like the Dão.”    There is no modern Dão without one of the region’s longtime legends, Alvaro Castro, whose estate encompasses two small properties (or “Quintas”) known as Pellada and Saes. Alvaro makes wine here with his daughter Maria, carrying on a tradition of winemaking on this property that dates to the 16th century! Together, they have resisted the internationalization push of the ‘80s and ‘90s, instead doubling down on their slow-wine approach, using local varieties grown and crafted in the true Dão “field blend” style.