• Portugal
• Douro
• Douro

The 2017 harvest will go down in the as the earliest ever at Quinta do Crasto. An unusually warm and dry winter meant that the vines' growth cycle began earlier than normal. Low rainfall continued throughout the cycle leading to moderate water stress and the vines had to naturally adapt to these adverse weather conditions. Harvest began on 8 August, with the first white grapes. This was an important decision since it allowed us the desired levels of freshness and natural acidity. On the 18th of August, we started picking the red grapes at the Quinta da Cabreira vineyard in the Douro Superior subregion. We are able to irrigate the grapes on this property and this was instrumental in keeping the vines working in a well-balanced fashion and enabled the berries to achieve perfect ripeness. In late August, evening temperatures fell significantly, which helped finish off the ripening of the grapes. A period of warm days combined with cool nights yielded the perfect balance, so that the harvest of the first Quinta do Crasto red grapes could begin. Dry days in September ensured a smooth harvest. The harvest wrapped up much earlier than normal, namely on 19th of September. On balance, we can say that 2017 was a year of lower yields, with fewer bunches of smaller grapes, but that had excellent concentration and an optimal skin to pulp ratio. This was a challenging year for the viticulture and winemaking teams. We had to perfectly time the harvest to ensure maximum quality. 2017 will certainly go down in history as a year of exceptional wines.

Deep purple in color, almost opaque. The nose offers fresh notes of gum cistus, wild blackberry aromas and delicate hints of cocoa. The palate is engaging, showing an excellent structure made of solid yet fine-textured tannins that are well integrated with fresh wild fruit. The finish is balanced and persistent. Bottled without any filtering, this wine meets all the conditions to evolve positively in the bottle.