Quinta dos Carvalhais Touriga Nacional Dao 2020

This 105 hectare property, which today has 50 hectares under vine, was purchased by the Guedes family in 1988. The vineyards were planted on poor granite soils with indigenous Dão varieties (Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Alfrocheiro, Jaen and Tinta Pinheira for reds and Encruzado, Assario, Verdelho, Bical and Cerceal for whites), and the modern winery was built soon afterwards. Today, winemaker Beatriz Cabral de Almeida makes an increasingly impressive range of wines from estate vineyards, which are situated at an altitude of 465-500 metres above sea level.

Autumn 2014 saw high levels of rainfall, but from December until budburst, winter was cold and dry. Spring was drier than in previous years, with occasional rain providing water reserves in the soil for the more arid months of spring and summer. Summer was dry with high temperatures during the day followed by cold nights. Unlike previous years, véraison occurred uniformly across the vineyard by the end of July and the development of the grapes right up to harvest was normal and balanced. The harvest started one week earlier than the previous year and resulted in wines of great quality.

The grapes were hand harvested plot by plot into 20 kg crates and rigorously selected for quality before being vinified separately in small stainless steel tanks with automatic pumping over and temperature control. Fermentation took about eight days at an average temperature of around 28°C. The Touriga Nacional from one particular plot remained on its skins post-fermentation for a further 20 days. Malolactic fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks, followed by 12 months of ageing in new and used fine-pored French oak barrels, sourced from eight different coopers, before it was fined, filtered and bottled.