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www.buyersandcellars.ca Cellar Profile
Casa de Cello is a family business that has been dedicated to winemaking for four generations. In the mid 1980s, one of the owners, João Pedro Araujo, decided to focus on vineyard health and new oenological technology to produce quality Vinho Verde — distinct from the light. spritzy, mass-produced white wine styles of the region — at their Quinta de Sanjoanne Estate. In the late 1990s, the family acquired their second estate, Quinta da Vegia, located southeast of Vinho Verde, in the Dão region. Here, they planted 20 hectares of carefully-selected native grape varieties that now produce some of the most exciting red wines in the country. The granitic and sandy soils give mineral tension and primary fruit to the wines, which can be enjoyed young, but have the stuffing to evolve and garner complexity with aging.
Region
Dão—one of the oldest established wine regions in Portugal—is located primarily on a plateau that is sheltered on three sides by the granite mountain ranges of Serra da Estrela, Serra do Caramulo and Serra da Nave. This helps the area maintain its temperate climate, away from the effects of the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The region experiences abundant rainfall in the winter months and long, warm dry summers leading up to harvest. This is one of the country’s highest in altitude wine growing regions, with vineyards planted from 200-1000 masl.
Vineyard
Located in Dão, near the village of Penalva do Castelo, Quinta de Vegia currently has 20 hectares of vineyard. Carefully selected varieties (Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarela, Alfrocheiro, Tinto Cão, Encruzado and Bical) are planted on fertile, granitic, sandy soils. All vineyards are farmed sustainably.
Varieties
Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain) can make rich, lively red wines that combine elegance and robustness, copious berry fruit and spicy flavour. The vines are very vigorous and productive and adapt well to different climates and soils, although they prefer hot, dry climates on sand or clay-limestone. Touriga Nacional is a thick-skinned grape whose skins are rich in colour and tannins, giving excellent structure and aging capacity. It also has wonderful, intense flavours: floral and fruity with ripe blackcurrants, raspberries and complex hints of herbs and licorice.
Winemaking
Hand-harvested in the evening from selected vines throughout the vineyard, the fruit is brought cool to the winery, where it is sorted and de-stemmed before fermentation in stainless steel. The cap saw regular punchdowns during the relatively cool 18 day fermentation on indigenous yeasts. It spends a year longer in stainless steel, before being bottled unfined and unfiltered, where it ages for at least another 6 months before release.
Tasting Notes
Generous on the nose, the fruit is brighter and fresher than expected, with some red berry elements underlying the typical black fruits, along with a touch of eucalyptus or menthol. The palate is rich, but not ponderous, and the tannins are smooth and well-integrated. Blueberry, black cherry and olive lead to a long finish, that has a savoury note. Serve at cellar temperature with some grilled Chouriço, or burgers.