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Vinha Do Oratório

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“The 2014 Vinha do Oratório Vinhas Velhas (Quinta da Boavista) is a field blend from a specific and small, old-vines (around 90 years) plot in the vineyard, aged for approximately 20 months in new French barriques. It comes in at 14% alcohol. This certainly seems like one of the finer successes of the 2014 vintage in this subregion. It is a tribute to the winery that it produced so many interesting 2014s. Granting that they are not side by side right now, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference here compared to last year’s beauty. This is tight and powerful, perhaps a bit drier and sterner than usual, but nicely concentrated. Some fruit does emerge with air, though. This hard-edged tinto really needs some time to develop in the cellar, moderate its tannins and acquire more harmony. Put it away for three to five years, at least. Its crisp edge, serious backbone and well-crafted mid-palate should give it a bright future. I say that even while always having some fear that, in general, wines in vintages like this often do not reward aging and fall off faster than one might suspect. This should go 30 years, but let’s take that in stages for the moment. It’s a new brand and a tough year. There were just 1,900 bottles produced.” 94 points, Mark Squires, Wine Advocate

Vintage

2014
Producer

QUINTA DA BOAVISTA
Country

PORTUGAL
Region

DOURO
Alcohol

13%
Composition

TOURIGA NACIONAL, TOURIGA FRANCA, TINTA RORIZ, TINTA AMARELA, TINTA BARROCA, TINTO CÃO, DONZELINHO, AND SOUSÃO

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WINEMAKER NOTES

Located at the heart of the Cima Corgo on the Douro’s right bank with spectacular view over the river, Quinta da Boavista is one of the most iconic properties of the demarcated region. The estate was part of the first Douro demarcation ordered by the Marquis of Pombal in 1756 and it is famed not only for its 40 hectares of top-quality vines, but also for the historic ties to Joseph James Forrester. A single-vineyard wine from Boavista’s ex-libris the Vinha do Oratório, whose towering, serpentine terraces form an altar like shape that give the vineyard its name.

TASTING NOTES

Color: Deep garnet.
Nose: A very lively and eloquent nose, where ripe red fruit and black plums blend harmoniously with the balsamic, spicy and smokey notes of the French oak casks used for ageing this wine.
Palate: Silky, vibrant and complex in the mouth, with a meticulous tannic structure – one of the key results of working with vines that are over 80 years old. This single vineyard offering marks a return to the past in the best Douro tradition and serves as a tribute to all those who have worked these mighty terraces and preserved the intriguing mix of grape varieties here, thus enabling us today to appreciate terroir wines in a region as inhospitable as the Douro.

PRESS

94 points Wine Advocate

VINEYARD

The ex-libris of Quinta da Boavista, the Oratório vineyard climbs towering terraces facing northeast and forming an altar-like shape. Its vines, on average over 80 years of age and a field blend of over 25 native varieties, produce low yields and wines of marked concentration and complexity.

VINIFICATION

    • Hand selected and picked. Careful, total de-stemming and gentle pressing. The Oratório grapes are fermented and foot-trodden in open granite vats and aged in French oak barrels for over 18 months. The wine is stored for at least one year before being released to the market. No stabilization or filtration means that deposits can form with age, therefore we recommend decanting before service.
  • Winemaker: Rui Cunha
  • Alcohol: 13%
  • Acidity: 5.7 g/L
  • pH: 3.47
  • Residual Sugar: < 0.6 g/L
  • Sulfites: 93 mg/L

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