Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 2017

Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 

Region: Douro, Portugal

Vintage: 2017

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Port blend

ABV: 20%

Deep, almost opaque, ruby in colour, with black cherries, plums and dark chocolate perfumes on the nose. On the palate, the wine is structured, intense and pronounced in flavour. The finish is medium-dry, with fine, delicate perfumes of warm, ripe fruit.

All the Quinta do Infantado vineyards are class A (the best in the Douro Valley). The grapes for the Vintage port are grown in the Serra Douro, Serra de Baixo and Castelos vineyards, covering six, one and a half, and three hectares respectively. Soils here are schistous, allowing the vine roots to delve deep to access water and nutrients to sustain them through the hot Douro summers.

The name ‘Infantado’ derives from ‘Infante’, Portuguese for ‘heir to the throne’, and references the history of the estate. The Portuguese royal family first built the winery in 1816, as a place where they could collect taxes in the form of grapes and wine brought to them by the local growers. Current owners, the Roseira family, have been grape growers in the Douro since the late 1700’s and purchased Quinta do Infantado over a century ago. João Roseira, the fifth generation, now oversees the vineyards and winemaking.

In 1979, Quinta do Infantado became the first Port producer to start estate bottling in the Douro, rather than in Porto’s Vila Nova de Gaia. In doing so, they championed the importance of estate grown fruit and helped break away from the monopoly of Port négociants.