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Touriga Nacional

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Touriga Nacional

Touriga Nacional is considered to be Portugal’s best red wine grape variety and is used to blend with ports or table wine. The grape variety produces small grapes with low yields and includes high tannins. In the Douro region, Touriga Nacional vines are grown in hot climates and in steep vineyards with a lot of rocks. The variety tends to require strict pruning and training in order to produce quality wines. The yields produced by this variety are the lowest of any grape variety cultivated for commercial use. Scientists have been trying to clone the variety in order to create vines that produce higher yields and higher sugar levels. The blue-black skinned grapes generate tiny bunches of the fruit, which are used to blend with red wines produced in the Duoro and Dao regions. Typically, the most expensive and high quality wines in the region contain Touriga Nacional. The skin to pulp ratio of the variety allows for a larger amount of extract and creates a strong and aromatic wine. Touriga Nacional variety wines tend to have strong fruit flavors, with floral and tea notes. The aromas of the wine sometimes include dark chocolate, berries, and violet and can be paired with rich meats and cheeses.

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Boeira Douro Reserve Red 2018

Boeira Douro Reserve Red is made from 35% Touriga Nacional, 35% Tinta Roriz and 30% Touriga Franca.

Smooth attack with good structure and excellent mouth feel. Fresh, with well integrated tannins bringing elegance and a gastronomic profile to the wine. Very well balanced.

No Oak.Boeira Douro Doc Red Reserve from the Douro Valley is the result of a careful blend of different varieties from the Douro. After fermentation the wine was left in contact with its lees until bottling in order to develop complexity and richness.

Ideal for red meat dishes, such as beef or roast beef with strong spices, thus associating with some traditional Portuguese dishes such as roasted lamb or veal steak. The wine should be served between 16º and 18ºC.



Boeira Tawny 20 Year Port NV

Boeira Tawny 20 Year Port is made from 40% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Francesa and 30% Tinta Roriz.

A Good Complexity of Natural Flavors of Cassis, Blackberries and Caramel.

Fermentation in steel tank and stopped by adding spirit and aged in oak barrels for 20 years. Wine was slightly filtered before bottling.

Boeira 20 Years Port is the perfect companion for a number of foods including foie-gras, pates, dried fruit or desserts like sponge cake or chocolate brownie and salted caramel.


Dow's Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira Single Quinta Vintage Port 2015

Exceptionally aromatic with aromas of violets, hints of blackberry, blackcurrant and black plum on the nose. There is some spice that is balanced with fresh acidity and minerality. A long finish with ripe but firm tannins.

Dow's Senhora da Ribeira can be enjoyed anytime and pairs wonderfully with chocolate desserts and soft cheeses like creamy Stilton or Roquefort.

Review:

Rich and fruity, this wine is packed with intense black-currant flavors. It is perfumed, ripe with a good tannic background. The density of the wine and the firm structure point to a long aging process. Drink this beautifully structured wine from 2026.

-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points

Winemaking:
Senhora da Ribeira has one of the most advanced specialist wineries in the Douro, combining the best of traditional winemaking practice, evolved over centuries, and the latest state-of-the-art automated systems. Three granite ‘lagares’ for foot treading are complemented by three ‘robotic’ lagares, designed by the Symington family and installed in the quinta’s winery in 2001.
It has long been recognised that traditional treading produced some of the finest Ports, but there are some drawbacks involved in traditional treading; temperature control is difficult, there is a limit to how long people are willing to tread and they need to sleep. The winemaker’s options are therefore limited, he or she cannot order treading at different times through the night, or pull people off the picking team at will. Furthermore, emptying the traditional lagar takes a long time; in the meantime the fermentation process is accelerating away. A further handicap arose over recent years, when an increasing scarcity of labour obliged producers to look for less labour-intensive vinification solutions. The Symingtons opted to devise a mechanical means of replicating the proven method of foot treading. The result was the Symington ‘robotic lagar’, an automated treading machine which exactly replicates the gentle action of the human foot and which has revolutionised winemaking in the Douro Valley. This equipment is very expensive but the results have been so good that an increasing proportion of Dow’s finest wines are now made in these automated lagares. Approximately half of the wines for Dow’s much praised 2003 Vintage were vinified in them.
The Senhora da Ribeira’s Quinta Vintage Ports have amassed a highly impressive number of awards: three Gold Medals at the International Wine Challenge, (2008, 2006 and 2001, for the 2005, 2002 and 1999 Vintages, respectively) as well as seven Silver Medals and two Gold Medals at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (London, 2008 for the 2005 Vintage and 2002 for the 1998 Vintage). In September 2006, Jancis Robinson MW wrote, “One very exciting new bottling is Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2004...this single quinta bottling demonstrates superb quality with wonderful vibrancy. Great wine in any context - not that unlike some California reds! This is definitely a wine to look out for when it is released.”
Wine Profile
The very hot climate through the summer at this vineyard results in highly complex and concentrated wines but very low yields. Colours of the musts in the fermentation tanks are always purple-black due to the very high skin to juice ratio. The old vines add further to the intensity of the wine as they make up a very large percentage of the vineyard. The resulting wine can be described as being the essence of Vintage Port, with powerful wild red-fruit flavours, leading into rich black chocolate notes, the whole balanced by complex, attractive and peppery tannins.

One of the Douro’s most beautiful vineyards, Senhora da Ribeira is located 24km (15 miles) upriver from Quinta do Bomfim in the remote Douro Superior. The vineyard commands a magnificent north bank position, overlooking a broad sweep of the Douro, directly opposite another famous Symington owned vineyard: Quinta do Vesuvio. Senhora de Ribeira was built close to an ancient river crossing, guarded by two 12th century castles on either side of the river built by the Moors during their centuries long occupation of Iberia. A small chapel dedicated to the ‘Lady of the River’ (literally: Senhora da Ribeira) has stood here for centuries and gave the quinta its name. Travellers would pause here to ask for a safe river passage and onward journey.


Senhora da Ribeira’s wines are some of the finest in the Douro and they complement those from Bomfim in the composition of Dow’s classic Vintage Ports. The quinta’s high proportion of old vines (45% are over 25 years old) is of critical importance. The old vines are very low-yielding, producing on average less than 1Kg of grapes each, giving intense and concentrated musts which are ideal for classic Vintage Port. The remainder of the vineyard was replanted as follows: 21% in 2001 and 34% from 2004, the latter involving mainly Touriga Nacional vines. This grape variety - very important for Vintage Port - now represents almost exactly a third of the total planted at the quinta. The entire vineyard has the maximum ‘A’ rating.


As with Bomfim, the consistency of the climate plays a key role, although the rainfall is only half of that experienced at Bomfim: 448mm is the 10 year average. This more extreme climate, hot dry summers and cold, equally dry winters results in wines with unique depth of colour and complexity.
As with Quinta do Bomfim, the best Ports from Senhora de Ribeira are used to make Dow’s Vintage Ports in the great and rare ‘Declared’ years. In the good year’s when Dow’s does not ‘declare’ a Vintage, the best wines of ‘The Lady of the River’ are bottled as Dow’s Quinta de Senhora da Ribeira Vintage Port. They will tend to mature a little earlier than the very rare ‘Declared’ years, but can be every bit as good as some other Vintage Ports.


 Wine Enthusiast: 93
Quinta do Vesuvio Single Quinta Vintage Port 2017

Quinta do Vesuvio Single Quinta Vintage Port is made from 33% Touriga Nacional, 35% Touriga Franca, 15% Sousão, 12% Alicante Bouschet, 5% Other.

This is a powerful, attention-grabbing wine, with taut muscularity. It offers magnificent aromas of rockrose, mint and hints of ginger. The substantial palate is full with expressive black fruit notes lifted by peppery schist tannins (the seasoning provided by the Sousão). The long, lingering aftertaste indicates impressive ageing potential.

Review:

Deep dark ruby ​​garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Delicate smoky spice, fine nougat, black berries, ripe figs, candied orange zest. Juicy, elegant, fine extract sweetness, ripe tannins, pleasant freshness, chocolaty in the finish, mineral and long-lasting, extremely elegant style, a large Vesuvio, has class.

-Falstaff 99 Points

The 2017 Vintage Port is a blend of 33% Touriga Nacional, 35% Touriga Franca, 15% Sousão and 12% Alicante Bouschet, plus miscellaneous others filling out the blend. This was bottled about a month before tasting after 18 months in seasoned vats, but the just-bottled sample was not really ready. This was instead a pre-bottling sample. It comes in with 115 grams of residual sugar.

- Wine Advocate 99 Points

 Wine Advocate: 99 99 Points
W & J Graham's Vintage Port 2000

W & J Graham's Vintage Port 2017 is made from  35% Touriga Nacional, 47% Touriga Franca and various others.


It is with great pleasure that Graham's announces the declaration of the 2000 Vintage, a wine that has been deemed to meet our very exacting standards, and one that shows every promise of living up to the reputation of the very best Vintage ports that the Twentieth Century provided.


This is a landmark wine for Graham's, not only being the first Vintage of a new millennium, but being the first Vintage wine to enjoy the extraordinary results achieved by the new robotic 'lagares' at Malvedos in the inaugural year of our remodelled winery. Significant also has been the decision to include a rather larger proportion of mature Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional from Vila Velha, a classic riverside Quinta a short distance downstream from Malvedos, and some spectacular old vine lots from Vale de Malhadas in the Upper Douro. These wines each from family-owned Quintas have been used to reinforce the predominant component from Malvedos and the traditional excellence of the Rio Torto lots from Lages, to produce a rounded and even blend in the hallmark rich Graham style.


Picking began at Malvedos on September 22nd and the last lagar was run off on October 10th, an unusually short and compact Vintage. Fruit arrived in good condition although yields were less than three quarters of a kilogram per vine, and the juice to skin ratio well below normal. 2000 was a year noted for a very low average yield across the Douro, and with the grapes unusually lacking in liquid, the extra amount of treading work required made it an ideal time to employ our new, tireless, mechanical treaders alongside the two original 1890 stone lagares still worked by human feet. It was evident early on in the Vintage from the colour and aroma of the fermenting musts that we were looking at a spectacular year, and after the usual waiting period of sixteen months or so to see how the lots would develop, we have now made our final selection and assembled the final blend.


The blend displays many of the typical Graham aromas of ripe plum and 'esteva' (gum cistus) and is pleasantly smooth on the palate despite its youth. It is full and rich in the mouth with fresh blackberry and red plum notes. Despite the hallmark Graham sweetness in the mouth the finish is long and clean.


As with all Graham Vintages, this is a wine made to last for years and the patience of laying down the wine for fifteen to twenty years will certainly be rewarded.


Review:
Smells like freshly picked orchids, with loads of ripe, clean fruit. Full-bodied, medium sweet and very powerful and racy. It lasts for minutes on your palate. Yet there's a balance and class to this young Vintage Port. This is the greatest glass of Graham I have ever tasted, young or old.
-Wine Spectator 98 Points

Aromas of dried fruits, raisins and Christmas cake. Some chocolate undertones too, plus licorice and wet earth. Full body, medium sweet with gorgeous depth and intensity of fruit. So long and beautiful. What an amazing finish already. So sexy. Drink or hold. But this will go on for decades.
-James Suckling 98 Points

 Wine Spectator: 98 98 Points
W & J Graham's Vintage Port 2016 (half-bottle)

W & J Graham's Vintage Port 2016 is made from 37% Touriga Nacional, 42% Touriga Franca and various others.

Like most parts of the world, the Douro has not been isolated from the effects of climate change, and unusual weather conditions over recent years have often departed from those typically associated with classic vintage years. Fortunately, in 2016 the stars aligned and the year brought superbly structured and balanced wines, allowing Graham's to announce a full vintage declaration.

The 2016 is a classic expression of the Graham's style: concentrated and opulent with layers of fresh, ripe, black fruit flavors. Aromas of mint and eucalyptus with chocolate notes. The Graham 2016 combines superb complexity, structure and balance.

Reviews:

Extremely complex aromas that show the classic Graham character of black-fruit marmalade and burnt oranges. Follows through to a full body with great grip at the finish. Lightly sweet. Chewy and powerful. Such a focus at the end.

-James Suckling 99 Points

This is lush and captivating in feel, with a velvety flow to the mix of plum, blackberry, boysenberry and açai berry compote flavors. A bold streak of licorice runs through the finish, underscored by a brambly note that imparts balance. A stunning display of fruit. Best from 2030 through 2050.

-Wine Spectator 98 Points 

Super-ripe with an expressive plum and dark chocolate aroma. Rich opulence backed by dark chocolate intensity and spicy tannic grip – big and bold on the finish. Voluptuous with fabulous richness, big and bold on the finish. This is one for the long haul but it’s already very impressive.

-Decanter 98 Points

 Wine Spectator: 98 99 Points
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