Quinta do Vale D. Maria
Na zijn vertrek van Noval in 1993 begon Cristano van Zeller een nieuwe carrière
met als doel de ontwikkeling van de bijzondere mogelijkheden
van de quinta’s in de Douro.
In zijn visie moeten de kleinere quinta’s zich concentreren op wijnen en porto’s
die het karakter van het terroir weerspiegelen.
Het is een zeer kleine quinta van 19 ha, waarvan 10 ha met druivenstokken van 60 jaar oud is beplant.
De quinta van A grade kwaliteit ligt aan de oevers van de Rio Torto.
De port en de wijn wordt op traditionele wijze in lagares gemaakt.
Vanaf 2003 wordt er met robot-lagares gewerk.
Quinta do Vale D. Maria - Vintage port 2005
The viticulture year of 2005 was extremely dry, with rainfall 60% to 70% below the average for the years 1931 to 1960, all around the Douro. This followed an already relatively dry year of 2004, making the whole region fall in a relatively prolonged drought.
Temperatures were very low during the Winter period and above normal average during the rest of the vegetative cycle of the vineyards, mainly in June. The rest of the Summer months of June, July and August saw temperatures above 35ºC in 50% of the days, with a lot of the vines suffering from heat stress. Flowering happened in very good conditions, with prospects of a higher than average production. Because of the dry climate conditions, there was no pressure from mildium, oidium nor any insect plagues, creating the perfect conditions for a very healthy fruit.
The maturation continued under very dry weather, which caused the grapes to loose some 20% to 40% of their original weight. Rain for a couple of days at the beginning of September on the 6th and 7th broke the dry cycle and renewed the normal maturation process of the grapes. This completely transformed the perspectives of the year, with very healthy and fully matured grapes coming into the lagares in the middle of September.
Yet another year, harvest happened under perfect weather conditions.
As usual, the grapes used for Quinta Vale D. Maria Ports come from a plot of our vineyards which has been chosen after many years of experiencing its incredible high quality results. These grapes are only picked at the end of the harvest, when all other grapes used for our Red Wine are already fermenting in our cellar.
Due to the very special weather conditions during all maturation period, these grapes at Quinta Vale D. Maria averaged above 15,5º Baumé.
All Port grapes of Quinta Vale D. Maria were foot trodden in lagares for 3 to 4 days before fermentation and then throughout all the fermentation, which lasted for another 2 to 3 days.
As is normal for all our Ports, the grapes were crushed by foot, before the fermentation, together with 15% of the total grape brandy which would be added to the final Port. This allows us to macerate the grapes at cooler temperatures and for a longer period before fermentation. When the must was ready for the addition of the remaining grape brandy, the fortification is made in one single moment, adding all the brandy to the must and skins in the "lagar". Then some more treading takes place for a good homogenization of the whole wine and to make sure the fermentation is stopped. The blend of must and brandy stays in the "lagar" for some more two to four days, with very slight treading twice a day (10 minutes each time). It is then racked to the storage vat together with all the press wine (we use traditional basket presses).
The Ports age in old wood vats and some stainless steel tanks and is still in its original ageing vats on this date.
Quinta Vale D. Maria 2005 Ports are incredibly deep in color, violet, dark red and purple, have a tremendous concentration of mature dark red fruit aromas, with a very typical predominance and blackberries, black cherries and plums' jam, cassis and esteva (rock rose?).
Very powerful, though very elegant, Ports with great balance and finesse and a very long and fruity finish. A Typical Vintage Port Year.
Submission of samples to the Port Wine Institute for formal Vintage Port approval was made at the end of January, followed by an immediate approval by the IVDP. Then the final blending happened in May 2007 and the Vintage Port will be bottled at the end of May 2007. A total of 4.400 bottles of 75cl is expected to be produced.
Quinta Vale D. Maria 2005 Vintage Port has the following technical data:
Alcohol: 20,0 % volume
Total Acidity (in Tartaric): tbi
Volatile Acidity (in Acetic): tbi
Ph: tbi
Total SO2: 95 mg/l
Baumé: tbi
Quinta Vale D. Maria, 14th of May 2007