March 2007 - Winter News letter

Welcome to our Quinta Diary update. Its purpose is to keep you informed about the conditions of our vines and wines during the year. We will have 4 issues a year covering the main seasonal labour and blending programmes. It will be sent to you in the form of a "link" to our Quinta website.

Quinta diary

January/February sees our 40,000 vines well and truly in their dormant phase. The fruit has long since been harvested, the leaves have withered and the sap has drained from the wood. This hibernating state is essential for our old vines. It allows the wood to preserve its essential nutrients and the soil to be blanched of parasites and viruses in the winter frosts. The only husbandry undertaken is pruning with some soil preparation at the foot of the vine, ready to catch the spring and early summer rains.

It is a quiet time for the vines, but not for us.

In the vineyards

Soil Analysis:

The soil profile at Macedos is naturally low in organic matter and slightly deficient in phosphorous and potassium. We compensate for this by:

"Ploughing back" the organic matter. We plough between the rows every 4 years. We don't use herbicides at Macedos which means that we resort to strimming as a principal means of "cover" control. Over a number of years natural seeding results in a thick bed of wild flowers and grasses growing up between the rows. When we winter plough we fold all this organic matter back into the soil, adding balance to the soil profile.

Pruning - The old vines are cane pruned- Gobolet style- to 2 buds. The dead canes are then collected and burnt in situ. The resulting ash- an excellent and natural source of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and aluminium - is scattered amongst the vines.

In the blends

Pinga 2004

If you liked our 2003 then we are sure you will love the new 2004. A serious blend of our quinta fruit with some young fragrant Touriga Nacional varietal. Only 8,000 bottles released.

Tasting Notes (March 2007): Rich black summer fruit aromas deeply layered with hints of liquorice, spice, coffee and fruit cake. Ripe, balanced and structured with an evolving soft tannic texture. The finish is ripe and concentrated with a touch of spice.

Hugely appealing now but will develop character and personality if cellared until 2010.

Shown "unlabelled" at the recent London SITT tastings.

Quinta 2003

This is only made from the oldest vines at the quinta. In order for this special vintage to reach its full potential we are releasing this later than normal after an additional 12 months cellaring at the quinta. 2,000 bottles released.

Tasting Notes (March 2007): Dark, intensely ripe black fruit with aromas of marzipan and spice. Soft, rich and voluptuous on the palate with masses of ripe tannins. Long on the finish with multiple layers of spice and fruit.

A demanding wine from an exceptional Douro vintage. Drinking wonderfully now but with ageing potential over the next 8-10 years.

Both wines will be released to the UK market in May 2007 via Raymond Reynolds Limited (01663 742230)

In the making

QDM 2004.

It is early days but judging from our February barrel tastings the 2004 blend is showing great promise. The hallmark characteristics of QDM - the rich concentration and density of fruit and the structured tannins- are present in abundance. The wine is nicely balanced and we look forward to putting the final blend together in October / December.

Pinga 2005.

This is also shaping up well. The Touriga is beautifully fragrant with lots of elegant red fruit. With some additional barrel time needed we should be ready to make up the 2005 later on in the year.

In the planning

Rose in 2007. We made an experimental batch of Rose in 2006, from some young Touriga Franca fruit. The results were very encouraging, with most of it consumed in house with friends and family during the hot summer of 2006!! So much so that we plan to make more and launch a new "Pinga Rose" in 2007. Depending on the conditions we could make up to 5,000 bottles.

Forthcoming events:

23 March - Evening Tasting at Hanfords in London. Raymond Reynolds will be giving a tutored tasting of a full range of Quinta vintages since 2000.