Description
Terroir
Located near Pinhão, on the right bank of the Douro, Quinta da Boavista has a spectacular view over the river. It is one of the most iconic properties in the demarcated region known, not only for its historical connection to the Baron of Forrester, but also for its 36 hectares of high quality vineyards. Every year the oenology team decides to bottle one or two monovarietal wines, from varieties that stood out that year.
In 2017, Alicante Bouschet was one of the chosen varieties. With great expression in the Alentejo, the most Portuguese foreign variety stood out this year in the Douro due to its structure and concentration.
Caste
100% Alicante Bouschet
The vineyards of Quinta da Boavista form part of the dazzling geometric scenery of man-made terraces, terraces and terraces on the schist slopes of the Douro River. The Alicante Bouschet is planted on terraces oriented to the Northeast, with less sunlight at the end of the day, with conditions conducive to good growth and balanced maturation.
It is the most Portuguese foreign variety. Originating in France, it is born from the crossing of Petit Bouchet and Grenache, being one of the most famous dye varieties. When planted in favorable soils and climates, it provides intense wines, with a deep color, good structure, concentration and enormous aging capacity. At Quinta da Boavista, on the northeast-facing terraces, it found the right conditions for a balanced and promising development.
Winemaking
At Quinta da Boavista, to ensure the preservation of the variety’s characteristics and total control of the production process, we resort to manual harvesting and hand picking of bunches, followed by destemming and gentle crushing of the berries.
As fermentation tanks we have traditional granite presses with foot treading, stainless steel fermentation vats and, for small batches, pvc food containers or fermentation in new 500 liter French wood barrels. Each of these types of fermentation gives the wine a particular style. As a winemaking philosophy we have only one: to delicately extract the best characteristics of our grapes.
Monovarietals are the only wines that age in 500 liter barrels. After an aging period, which varies between 15 and 20 months, bottling takes place. All wines are sealed with natural cork. Not being filtered or cold stabilized, they can give rise to a precipitate with age.
The dense and creased color awakens the senses for a wine of good concentration. The effluvium of red fruit wrapped in spicy notes of great freshness enhance its vigor and structure. It enters the mouth and unceremoniously invades every nook and cranny. Powerful, velvety, with full tannins, this is a wine with great charisma that captivates us with its seriousness and enraptures us with its restlessness.
Ideal to accompany dishes of red meat, game or cheese.
