Quinta de la Rosa Estate Red 2020, Douro DOC, Portugal

Wine has been made in the Douro since Roman times, but it wasn’t until modern temperature control systems became widely available that high quality wine production was possible. Quinta de la Rosa was one of the first quintas in the Douro to make table wine from indigenous port grape varieties. 2020 vintage: Touriga Nacional (60%) and Touriga Franca (30%) with 5% Sousao and 5% Tinto Cao. The grapes mainly come from the Lamelas vineyard planted by Tim Bergqvist more than 30 years ago. “The terroir in the Douro is still largely unexplored and by making wines with harmony and equilibrium from our vineyards, we try to enable the grapes to express themselves in the bottle.” The La Rosa style is to make well defined wines without too much extraction, tannin or oak. Wines that are rich and full bodied whilst being fresh and lively with a good acidity and minerality. The wine was fermented in small stainless steel vats and then matured in aged Allier French oak casks. A quintessential Quinta de la Rosa wine shows a delicate poise between seductive aromas, both fresh and ripe fruit, as well as spice. On the palate it is generous, with vibrant fruit being balanced by good acidity. The wine’s elegance and character shines through.