Variety - field blend composed of a blend of 70% red and 30% white blend (Tinta Gorda, Tinta Serrana, Bastardo, Rufete, Alvarelhão, Rocheiro, Ocheiro, Verdelho, Malvasia, Bastardo Branco, Posto Branco, Formosa, and more)
Winemaker - Frederico Machado & Ricardo Alves
Appellation - Trás-os-Montes, Portugal
Vineyard - Trás-os-Montes
Alcohol - 11.5%Case Production - N/A
Vinification and Elevage - Hand harvested, then foot trodden in a traditional lagar (old stone or concrete fermentation vessels) and macerated for 4 days allowing the juice to start fermenting naturally with indigenous yeast and without temperature control. The grapes were pressed and racked into used French Oak barrels where alcoholic and malolactic fermentations were finished. The wine aged for nine months in the same barrels on fine lees.
In the US, a red blend is essentially any domestic wine that's not made from a specific grape variety. Winemakers blend grapes because it allows them to reach desired flavor profiles that a single grape variety could not achieve on their own. Common red blends in the US often feature Cabernet, merlot and either cabernet franc or petite verdot. However there are many other common red blends including grenache, syrah and mourvedre often referred to as a GSM blend. In France, these blends would most commonly be named for the reason from whence they hail. For example, the Bordeaux blend or Rhone blend respectively.
.png)
