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

For the second year in a row, after a cold and dry Winter the rain appeared in the beginning of the Spring. This was crucial to restore the water levels of the soil. The Summer was uncharacteristically mild for this region with occasional rainy days in June and July. There are no records of temperatures above 37 ºC and even these were rare. These conditions allowed a very slow and perfect maturation. As a consequence we were able to harvest very slowly, choosing carefully block by block as the different grape varieties achieved the ideal maturation. We started picking Tinta Amarela on the 2nd September, followed by Tinta Barroca, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Sousão, Touriga Nacional and just finishing on the 10th October picking the Tinto Cão. Weather conditions during the vintage remain dry with the exception of one insignificant showery morning in late September, enabling us to produce remarkably dark and concentrated wines, with excellent acidity and firm tannin structure and powerful fruit notes.

Production notes

The grapes pass through a quality control before being crushed, in order to avoid mainly raisins, and in some varieties possible Botrytis problems. After being crushed, the grapes are cooled down and periodically trodden by foot in granite “lagares” until the sugar contents of the must reaches the required level. This process lasts in average for three days. The must is then racked to the storage vats and wine brandy is added to stop fermentation.