Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande Douro Branco 2023

Bright lemon in colour with green nuances. Intense aromas of white peach, melon, pear and orange blossom are married with a subtle minerality and a buttery richness from the oak. On the palate there is a creamy mouthfeel and a refreshing acidity that beautifully balances the intense flavours that linger on the long finish.

Upon arrival at the Quinta do Sairrão winery, the grapes were destemmed and gently crushed using a pneumatic press. A short pre-fermentation cold maceration on the skins was carried out to extract maximum aromatics. Fermentation at controlled temperatures took place in both stainless-steel tanks and French oak barrels. The wine did not go through malolactic fermentation. 50% of the wine was aged in 500-litre new French oak barrels for six months and 50% was kept in stainless-steel tanks, with regular lees stirring carried out on both lots. The final blend was assembled and underwent clarification and stabilisation before bottling.

Luís Sottomayor describes the 2023 vintage in the Douro as an “outstanding year” with wines showing “high concentration, good fruit and a lot of intensity”. The vintage was a stark contrast from the very hot and dry 2022 vintage, with a rainy winter and mild spring providing optimal conditions for budbreak. Despite lower disease pressure, intervention was required to prevent downy mildew and longer-lasting pests (green leafhoppers) in the vineyards. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events and localised hailstorms affected some of the Sogrape properties. Warm conditions without extremes throughout July and part of August, with some intermittent rainfall, resulted in an excellent ripening of the grapes. The harvest lasted almost two months, from 17th August to 11th October, with all grapes harvested by hand.