This is a great big wine in a great big bottle; but it's delicious too and very, very smooth. Tired of Reservas that don't deliver the goods? Look this way, as this svelte, broad and deep red gives acres of flavour, charm and warmth with every mouthful.
Flavours of blackberry and overripe blackcurrants, integrated spices with notes of violet and roses, this is a complex and rewarding wine, perfect for roasts, grills and cheeses.
Made by Joana and António Maçanita, this is a reflection of the best terroirs and winemaking practices that these siblings believe represent red wines from the Douro. It's certainly a very impressive picture and though the wine is powerful and rich, you're never left feeling as though you've been attacked - the balance is remarkable and, as I mentioned above, it is very, very charming...
The wine comes from 40% each of Touriga Nacional and Sousão grapes with the balance coming from a blend of indigenous Douro varieties that are all co-fermented after a long cold-soak to get as much colour and flavour as possible from the grape skins. The wine is then aged for over two years in a combination of everything you can imagine - neutral oak barrels, new barriques, stainless steel and glass. The blend of materials seems to provide an equilibrium for the wine, which again, never seems to overpower. Delicious.
António Maçanita is a very widely travelled and well worked winemaker and consultant with projects all over Portugal. This is a lovely story that came to being because he wanted to get to know the great Douro region, but didn't know where or how to begin. He contacted his sister, who is also a winemaker, and she said the same thing! Together they have found parcels of vines and old vineyards that they believe show their own version of the region in the bottles that they produce. These are excellent wines and are focused on the purity of the fruit that the Douro soils are able to yield as well as the charm from the Portuguese climate.
Working in the Cima Corgo and Baixa Corgo subzones of the Douro, this is a project that clearly seeks high quality. These old vineyard plantings are high in altitude and produce fruit of serious quality, not destined for bulk wine production, but for the wineries that have built the reputation that the region enjoys. This is the right ethos for anyone anywhere in the world, but is certainly the only one for a region such as this: there are no weedy, flabby or also-ran wines in the Douro, not really. It's one of the oldest quality wine regions in the world and this project is a very fine addition to its story, as much as the Douro is part of the story of the Maçanitas!
Oh, and fun fact: Sousão is a teinturier variety, which means that it has red skins and red flesh, which is rare. Another "Portuguese" variety (it's actually a French hybrid but is most associated with Portugal) that is teinturier is the excellent Alicante Bouschet, often grown in the Alentejo region.
AND each bottle is numbered - they only make about 60 barrels of this stuff...
Region: Douro
Country: Portugal
Grape(s): Touriga Nacional
Style: Svelte, Structured, Smooth, Silky, Rich, Powerful, Full, Fruity, Elegant, Dark, Complex, Broad, Balanced
Best food matches: Wild Boar, Venison, Veal, Steak, Sausages, Roasts, Ribs, Red Meats, Poultry, Pork, Mature Cheeses, Lamb, Hard Cheeses, Grills, Grilled Vegetables, Game, Duck, Cheeses, Charcuterie, Casseroles, Beef, Barbecue
Alcohol: 14.5%
