About this winery

While Quinta do Vale Meão only began bottling under its own label in 1999, the estate has an incredible history. Vale Meão was one of the shrewd acquisitions of the celebrated Douro landowner Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. In 1877 she purchased 270 hectares of land near Vila Nova de Foz Côa in the Upper Douro, and over the course of the next decade established a model winery, planting all the vineyards from scratch. The Quinta remained in the family and is owned today by Francisco Javier...

See the QUINTA DO VALE MEÃO detail page for more information on this brand

Product notes

After the harvest, Autumn brought rainy weather which allowed reaching the end of the year with 50% the average rainfall, thus compensating for the lack of pluviosity that characterized the rest of 2012. The beginning of 2013 was dry and cold, up to mid-March. As a consequence, we witnessed a bud break 15 days later than average. Rain came back in March, in such quantities that the river Douro was flooded. April May and June were unusually fresh, with relatively frequent rainfall, allowing a perfect development of the plants and a yield higher than 2012. Summer started without any hydric stress and providing lower than normal temperatures. In early July there was a severe heat wave for about 10 days , causing no damage since the vegetative and water balance had already been achieved. The rest of July was cooler than usual, and August brought typical temperatures of the summer season. This provided a very balanced evolution of the maturation and the delay that occurred at bud-break was kept during the subsequent growth stages, thus delaying the harvest date.

Production notes

After being crushed, the grapes were cooled down and trodden by foot during four hours in granite “lagares”, transferred to small old french oak wooden vat and fermented for 10 days with controlled temperature. The wine was matured for 15 months in used French Allier oak barriques(225 litters).

Tasting notes

Great lively colour. A very unique nose showing floral and citruses notes. In the mouth keeps the floral profile and shows a surprising softness. Has an extraordinary elegance, excellent acidity, with firm but elegant tannins.