Quinta do Crasto Flor de Crasto Douro Red Blend 2020 (Portugal)

Description

Cherry, Floral, Spice

Deep ruby in colour. The nose shows fresh floral notes nicely combined with aromas of wild berry fruit. The palate starts with elegance, leading to a wine with good volume and a smooth texture. This is an engaging wine, with a balanced and persistent finish.

A red blend of Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional.

2020 was an extremely demanding year, not only due to the global pandemic, but also the harsh weather conditions that were particularly hot and dry during the critical grape ripening period. This was the warmest winter since 2005, accompanied however, with high rainfall, especially in December, both at Quinta da Cabreira (Douro Superior) and Quinta do Crasto (Cima Corgo). March to June were also hot and rainy, leading to an early budburst, which occurred about ten days earlier than usual. This weather was particularly worrisome as it represented a risk of potential vine disease and required rigorous monitoring by the viticulture team to avoid potential infection. July and August were hot, but soil water was fortunately suicient to ensure correct grape ripening. However, it was essential not to miss the optimal harvest time, so as to prevent grape dehydration. The harvest started on 17 August and ended on 25 September. The yield was a lower than average with smaller bunches and smaller berries with an excellent skin-to-pulp ratio, which were, thus, highly concentrated. This Covid-19 vintage benefitted from all the professionalism and dedication of the Quinta do Crasto team and yielded white wines with excellent balance, freshness and aromatic definition and very complete reds with highly expressive fruit, seductive texture, and great persistence.

Grapes are taken to the winery in 22 kg boxes. After a rigorous selection, the stalks are removed and the grapes are crushed and transferred to stainless steel vats. The alcoholic fermentation takes place at controlled temperature for 7 days. Aged in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats.