Quinta da Fonte Souto Branco DOC Alentejo

Description

Quinta da Fonte Souto Branco is a Portuguese white wine produced by The Symington Family at their new wine estate the Alentejo in Southern Portugal. It is a blend of Arinto, widely regarded as Portugal’s finest white grape variety, and Verdelho.

Quinta da Fonte Souto Branco is The Symington Family’s first property outside of the Douro region. The Symington’s are best known as Port and Douro wine producers and own Grahams, Dows and Warres Port Houses, amongst others. The 207 hectare Quinta da Fonte Souto estate is situated along the slopes of the Sao Mamede range near Portalegre. It is located at an altitude of over 500 metres above sea level. The higher than average altitude with its cooler microclimate is quite a contrast to the Alentejo region’s typically hot and dry conditions. There are 43 hectares of vineyards planted on schist and granite soils which are much less fertile than those found in the flat and rolling terrain which characterizes the majority of the Alentejo. Grape varieties planted are typical of the region and are mainly Aragones, Alfrocheiro, Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is named “souto”, the Portuguese name for a wooded area planted with chestnut trees – there is a large chestnut grove at the estate. 2017 is the first vintage.

Quinta da Fonte Souto Branco is a blend of 75% Arinto and 25% Verdelho grapes from mature, low-yielding vines. The hand-picked grapes are placed in small, shallow boxes and taken to the on-site winery. Manual sorting is followed by de-stemming and gentle crushing after which the grapes are transferred to a pneumatic press for a light pressing. Fermentation begins in stainless steel vats but immediately after alcoholic fermentation commences, 60% of the wine is fermented and aged for 8 months in new barrels of 500L (French oak, Central European oak and acacia wood) in contact with the fine lees (sur lie) with frequent lees stirring or batonnage which lends extra complexity and structure to the wine.

Winemakers are Charles Symington, Pedro Correia and José Daniel Soares (who is the resident winemaker). Approximately 660 cases were produced.

This wine is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.