Quinta Infantado Douro Tinto

Quinta do Infantado was founded in 1816 in the Cima Corgo sub-region of the Douro--considered its finest zone for both Port and dry wines--by the Portuguese crown heir D. Pedro IV, hence the name of the estate: “Infante” is Portuguese for "prince". Today, Infantado is run by third generation João Roseira (winemaker and vineyard manager) and other family members, who oversee family holdings of about forty-six hectares of vines. Up until the 1970’s, like most small growers, Infantado sold their wines off to large shippers; they then made the radical decision to go it alone, becoming the first estate to not sell or buy fruit or wine and to exclusively bottle estate-grown wines. Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional are the predominant varieties, with a little of other native varieties in the mix as well. The fruit comes from two sustainably farmed sites (Serra Douro & Serra de Cotas) on steep slopes of schistous soils; like all Infantado vineyards, these are ranked "Class A ", the highest classification in the Douro. The bunches are hand-harvested, mainly destemmed and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in stainless steel lagares.The wine is aged for 18 months in 300-liter French oak barrels (little to none of it being new) and bottled without fining or filtration.