Quinta do Vale Meão 2023
Region: Douro
Producer: Quinta do Vale Meão
One of the most prestigious estates in the Douro Valley. Located on the easternmost part of the Douro, the Douro Superior, still unexplored and isolated. This "Quinta" has long provided the grapes for the production of the magical "Barca Velha", the most highly rated and expensive wine in Portugal.The wines of Vale Meão are considered the absolute top of the Douro, and those who uncork a bottle of it can look back on 150 years of fascinating history. Quinta do Vale Meão was born as the culmination of the work of Dona Antonia Adelaide Ferreira. This woman of strong character was in charge of the House of Porto Ferreira in the middle of the 19th century and turned it into an empire. In 1877 she bought 300 hectares of land from the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Cõa. Its ambition was to build a model vineyard from nothing. The project was not completed until a year before her death in 1896 - as she had to wait several years for the railway to reach her estate from Porto - but finally Quinta do Vale Meão was born.
With Meandro, he offered a more accessible variant, and under the Monte Meão label are sold wines produced in small quantities, extremely tasty like this 100% Baga, coming from an estate with granite soil.
Quinta do Vale Meao is the great wine of the estate. It is one of the most highly rated and sought-after reds in Portugal. It has an ageing capacity of more than 15 years...
Ruby-purple color. Floral aromas with notes of sweet spices and red fruits. On the palate, structured and corpulent, a rather powerful but velvety and refined style. The tannins are present but fine, the finish is complex, long and fresh.
| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | 55% Touriga Nacional, 35% Touriga Franca, 5% Tinta Barroca and 5% Tinta Roriz |
| Drinking window | 2026-2042 |
| Alc. | 14.0% |
| Vinification | After being crushed, the grapes were cooled down and trodden by foot during four hours in granite lagares and then transferred to small refrigerated stainless steel vinifying vats. Each grape variety is vinified separately. |
| Ripening | All the wine was matured in French Allier oak barriques (225 litres). 80% new and 20% second usage. |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
The flagship of the Douro Superior, and at complexity fifteen the deepest bottle in our Portuguese range. Short maceration in open lagares underfoot, then fermentation in steel, and ageing in French oak of which eighty per cent is renewed each year. That new wood accounts for the tannin of four and a half: closed at the moment, and a wine with years in bottle ahead of it.
Drie gerechten die werken
Rib of beef over charcoal
Saddle of venison with red wine sauce
Roast duck with figs
Saddle of venison with red wine sauce
Roast duck with figs
Vegetarisch
Roasted squash with black lentils and sage
Minder geschikt bij
Anything light or fine. Do not open it without time either: two hours in a decanter is not a luxury here but a requirement.
Voor de Portugees geïnspireerde kok
Costeletão de vaca velha na brasa — rib of mature beef over charcoal, the plate this wine asks for
Serveren op 17 °C, two hours in a decanter