Port Wine

Quinta do Vale Meão

Vintage 2019, 75cl

Porto

Quinta do Vale Meão

Harvest report
The 2019 wine year was characterised by a very dry and cold climate. The beginning of November 2018 brought above-average rainfall, but over the following months, this decreased, leading to a dry but also colder than average winter. Spring started with high temperatures, but in its final phase they decreased considerably, remaining low throughout the summer. This phenomenon led to good conditions for flowering, thus bringing a very interesting productive potential. It was also found that, due to the low temperatures during the summer, the occurrence of bunch scald was practically non-existent. From a physiological point of view, the mild days and cool nights of August led to slow and balanced ripening, which minimised the usual water stress of the plants.
Slower ripening led to a long harvest, with very selective picking of the different plots and varieties. The red grape harvest began on 27 August with the always early Tinta Barroca. The last grapes from the Quinta were harvested on 10 October.

Vinification
The result of a rigorous selection of the best Port wines of each year, it consists of more than 10 grape varieties, with Touriga Franca being the dominant variety. Classic vinification in mills of the mixture of grape varieties with 100% stems. After crushing, the must is cooled. At the end of the harvest day, the grapes are foot treaded in lagares for four hours. Fermentation takes place spontaneously and mechanical treading is carried out regularly until pressing and the addition of selected brandy. The wine ages in wooden barrels and is bottled 22 months after the harvest.

Allergens information

Contains sulphites.

Quinta do Vale Meão

In 1877, Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, owner of the largest winemaking estate in the Douro, purchased 300 hectares of virgin land at auction from the Vila Nova de Foz Côa municipality. Her dream was to create a model vineyard from nothing, using for this the vast experience she had acquired throughout a lifetime as a Douro landowner. This ambitious project took eight years to complete, from 1887 to 1895. Sadly, this grand lady’s pleasure in her last and most significant enterprise was of short duration as she died in 1896.

Since then, the estate always remained in the hands of her descendants. In the 1970s, her great-great-great-grandson, Francisco Javier de Olazabal became responsible for its management and he began the long and laborious process of acquiring the shares that belonged to his kin and to other co-owners of the property. In 1994, he and his children became the sole owners of the Quinta. Until then, the grapes from the estate were sold to A.A. Ferreira S.A., the company established by Dona Antónia’s descendants, where they formed the basis of some its finest wines. This connection continued until 1998 when Francisco Javier de Olazabal resigned as Managing Director of A.A. Ferreira S.A. to dedicate himself, together with his oenologist son Francisco de Olazabal y Nicolau de Almeida, to producing, ageing and marketing the wines from the Quinta through a new company, F. Olazabal & Filhos Lda.

Address

F. Olazabal & Filhos, Lda.

Quinta do Vale Meão
5150-501 Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Portugal