Jaime Acácio Queiroz Cardoso 2016 Vintage

A very challenging campaign, with each grape variety and plot revealing itself at its own pace, which required very close monitoring. The wine year started in a positive way with a wet winter. In the spring, the above-normal temperatures advanced the growing cycle by about 10 days. However, some challenges appeared with rainy weather that lasted through April and May, with precipitation levels three times higher than those in recent years. June and July saw the return of more typical seasonal weather, but there were major heatwaves in August that slowed the ripening cycle, putting the vines under great stress. The much-desired August rainfall fell rather timidly at the end of the month (7 mm), but it made the difference precisely in the vineyards where it was most needed. The weather was exceptionally good throughout the harvest, which allowed perfect maturation to proceed. The harvest then started on September 23, giving rise to very fresh and elegant wines with great concentration.

Fresh grapes at their ideal point of ripeness, picked by hand and placed in 20 kg boxes. After destemming and gentle crushing, the grapes were placed in a stainless steel tank for five days of skin maceration; fermentation lasted for five days, with three daily delestage processes, before continuing under post-fortification maceration for a further three days. This resulted in a well extracted wine. This was aged in old French oak vats. Blending was done in April 2018.