Quinta do Ataide Tinto, Douro DOC

Description

Quinta do Ataide Tinto is a red wine produced in the Douro Superior wine growing region of the Douro Valley, Portugal. It is a blend of some of the classic Douro grape varieties, including Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Alicante Bouschet.

Quinta do Ataide: Owned By The Symington Family

Quinta do Ataide is owned by the world-famous Symington family (owners of Graham, Dow and Warre Port amongst others) under their Symington Family Estates company. They are the largest vineyard owner in the Douro Valley with over 1000 hectares split between 26 vineyards. They are also the largest organic wine producers in Portugal via their three Quintas in the Vilarica Valley, Quinta de Assares, Quinta da Canada and Quinta do Ataide.

Quinta do Ataide is also home to the  Symington Grape Variety Library, established in 2014, which comprises a vineyard with 53 distinct grape varieties, to further the knowledge of the various Douro grape varieties. As well as this red wine blend, the estate also produces another wine called Vinha do Arco which is made from 100% Touriga Nacional.

Located On An Unusually Flat Part of the Douro

The historic Quinta do Ataide estate is based around an old 18th century manor house and occupies an unusually flat (for the Douro) area of land in the Vilarica Valley. This is an old lake bed surrounded by granite escarpments. The soils here are different from elsewhere in the Douro: they are composed of the traditional Douro granite and schist but have an alluvial topsoil component, producing a unique terroir. The cold winters and hot summers, combined with low rainfall, contribute to the making of an exceptional wine that has wonderful aromas and concentrated colour and flavours.

Quinta do Ataide Tinto Blend

The grapes for Quinta do Ataide Tinto are a typical Douro blend of grape varieties which are organically farmed at 81 hectare vineyard at Quinta do Ataíde in the Vilariça Valley (Douro Superior).

The blend for the 2018 is 70% Touriga Nacional, 20%Touriga Franca and 10% Alicante Bouschet.

Winemaking

• Grapes from Ataíde are hand-picked into small boxes to prevent crushing during transport to the winery
• On arrival, bunches are meticulously hand-sorted on a sorting table
• Grapes are gently destemmed, then whole berries are placed into a small container and lifted to the top of the fermentation tank (no pumping)
• Berries are crushed only as they fall gently into the tank
• Each fermentation tank is monitored individually; temperatures and maceration techniques (plunging, pumping-over, and délestage) are precisely adjusted to maximise the potential of the grapes
• After alcoholic fermentation, extended post-fermentation maceration is carried out to extract mature, soft tannins from the pips
• The wine is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, followed by stainless steel
• Winemakers: Charles Symington and Pedro Correia, assisted by the Symington DOC Douro winemaking team