Duque de Viseu, Dão Tinto

This wine is made from a mixture of fruit from the Quinta dos Carvalhais estate and grapes bought-in from carefully selected growers who adhere to sustainable practices. The estate vineyards are planted on poor granite soils with indigenous Dão varieties. The vines are grown at an altitude of 465-500 metres above sea level and cool nights counteract the warmth of the days, ensuring that the grapes undergo a slow ripening process and retain a fresh acidity whilst accumulating concentrated varietal aromas.

The 2020 vintage in the Dão got off to a tricky start with spring rains and frosts at the beginning of April. These damaged the new shoots and caused a significant reduction in yields. The summer was dry and hot and featured the hottest July in the last 30 years. This accelerated the growing cycle and required careful canopy management to avoid sunburn. Some rainfall in mid-August gave the vines the boost needed to undergo the final stages of ripening during the heat that continued in September. 2020 is one of the earliest harvests on record in the Dão, starting at the end of August and finishing in early October. The grapes harvested were of excellent quality with great aromatics and freshness.

The different varieties in the blend were harvested and vinified separately. Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes were destemmed and then gently crushed before being transferred to temperature-controlled stainless-steel fermentation vats. Fermentation lasted around six days, during which time several pump overs took place in order to gently extract aromas and phenolic compounds from the skins. After fermentation, 30% of the blend was aged for six months in French oak, while the rest of the wine remained in stainless-steel tanks.