Intense garnet colour and aromas of black fruit, plum jam, raw tobacco leaf, mint, spices with hints of Touriga Nacional florality. Beautifully balanced and rich, possessing surprising freshness and structured, exuberant tannins that will help guarantee its longevity. Despite its considerable ageing potential Ponte 2016 is showing beautifully in its youth.
Viticulture
Responsible husbandry and care in the vineyard is critical to achieving the best Mouchao fruit and sustaining the bee population. Well-drained alluvial soils mixed with red Mediterranean loams averaging some 14 years at harvest. Vineyard plots and varieties are harvested separately.
Vinification
Mouchao vinify in open stone troughs (lagares) without separating stems, making timing especially critical, as they need to find a delicate balance between sugars, acids, overall phenological maturity as well as stalk lignification. Whole bunches are hand-picked and transported in 20kg boxes to the winery, where they are foot-trodden and allowed to ferment for roughly 5-7 days. In 2015 tannins, colour and stem maturity were close to perfect. The fermented wine underwent malo-lactic fermentation in large wooden tonéis (5,000ltr vats). Racked in mid-winter the wine remained undisturbed for a further 3 years. Once bottled it was matured in the cellars for a further 10 months before release.
Recommendation
Perfect accompaniment to roasts or game