Quinta da Costa do Pinhão, Portugal

Miguel allows his 40 year old vines to grow naturally on their rich slate soils and at a height of up to 450m altitude they give him a bird’s eye view over the Douro, soaring high above the heat of the valley floor. This allows the wines to have pure flavours and minerality at their core. There is little influence from the winery, where historic slate lagars are used to naturally ferment the grapes resulting in terroir driven, fresh, balanced and fruity wines. Far removed from the traditional styles of the Douro.

Viticulture

Occupying the higher sites of the Douro with vineyards planted in rich slate soils at 300-450m above sea level, this gives their viticulturist an advantage when cultivating vines in the hot Douro climate: lengthening the growing period and maintaining bright levels of acidity. Quinta da Costa do Pinhão are farmers working their old vines and the land organically, but not yet certified.

Winemaking

Quinta da Costa do Pinhão is a minimal interventionist estate, preserving the raw character of their Douro wines, therefore all wines go through wild ferment. Miguel still utilises traditional lagars built into his family’s winery, made from the schist soils surrounding the estate. Their red wines are gently foot trodden for light maceration.