WineWise Code

PDA-VRB22

Country

Portugal

Region

Dão

Color/Style

White

Destemming

Complete

Fermentation Vessel

Total destemming and crushing in a pneumatic press, followed by natural decanting and spontaneous fermentation in cement eggs, stainless steel and barrels, at a temperature of 18-22ºC. Complete malolactic fermentation.

Aging Vessel

11 months. 30% Encruzado from Vinha Romana in new barriques (1 French oak 400 L, 1 Austrian/German oak 500 L), 20% Encruzado from Vinha da Fonte Velha in cement eggs and 6% em in new barriques, 44% Malvasia-Fina and Cerceal-Branco from Vinha da Fonte Velha in stainless steel. More 6 months in stainless steel for the final blend.

Aging Duration (months)

17 months total

Filtered?

No

Fining Agents

None

Malolactic Conversion

Yes

Additonal Maturation Details:

Ageing in the different vats on the fine lees for 11 months in a reductive environment. Racking and kept in stainless steel for 6 months until bottling (76mg/l total sulphur dioxide). Natural decantation, the wine has not been clarified or filtered and may have a deposit.

Added Sulfur

Yes, 76 mg/L

Varieties

56% Encruzado, 44% Cerceal-Branco and Malvasia-Fina.

ABV

13

Annual Production

4267 bottles produced

Primary Vineyard Name

Encruzado from Vinha Romana 30% (2,5ha total, 19 years old vines), Encruzado from Vinha da Fonte Velha 26% (1,43ha total, 34 years old vines), Cerceal-Branco e Malvasia-Fina from Vinha da Fonte Velha (1,43ha total, 34 years old vines).

Soil Types

Granite

Vine Age

19-34

Farming Practices

Practicing organic

Additional Harvest Notes

Granite. Very well mixed between soil and rocks, more precisely between the silt typical of granitic soils, with alterites or rocks degraded by the chemical and physical processes of weathering, as well as quartz and the mother-rock granite. Level 4 / 5 alterite predominates in all the vineyards of Domínio do Açor.

Other Vineyard Details

The climate of Dão is moderate continental, clearly marked by the mountain ranges that surround it and protect it from the Atlantic influence. Average annual temperature: 14°C – 16°C, average summer temperature: 18°C – 20°C, maximum daily temperature range in summer: 20°C. Domínio do Açor enjoys the freshness and continentality of the Dão, but at the same time its mesoclimate is drier and less marginal than in Serra da Estrela. The grapes ripen slowly and with immense balance between sugars and acids, and a high concentration of aromatic precursors.