250 Port anD the Douro
straightforward red Quinta do Côtto is produced nearly every year from a blend of Tinta
Roriz, Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional. Since the mid-1990s, the quality of Quinta do
Côtto has improved markedly. It has now grown up to be a refined Douro red with firm,
ripe tannins and supple plum-like fruit. Quinta do Côtto is one of very few Portuguese reds
to be bottled with a screw cap, a decision that is considered almost treasonable in the world’s
largest cork producing country.
The real acclaim must be reserved for the Grande Escolha. The name (literally meaning
‘Great Choice’ and by extension ‘finest selection’) has been purloined by other producers
in the Douro but Quinta do Côtto is the first and remains the best of the genre. Grande
Escolha is only produced in the most successful years from the oldest vineyards on the
property. It undergoes an extended maceration or cuvaison followed by eighteen months
in new oak. The resulting wines are tight-knit and concentrated. The vineyard at Côtto
has a high percentage of Sousão which explains why, with age, Grande Escolha retains
its extraordinary deep colour. With Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz making up the
remainder of the blend, the wine also retains its fruit and structure, gaining in character
and complexity.
caRM
Casa Agricola Roboredo Madeira Lda
Rua da calabria, 5150 – 021 almendra
tel. (351) 279 718 010
http://www.carm.pt
The Madeira family has owned property in the Douro Superior since the seventeenth
century. They currently farm 500 hectares of olives, almonds and vines split between seven
properties, mostly in the Ribeira d’Aguiar around the village of Almendra. With a rainfall
averaging less than 400mm a year, this is the driest part of the Douro and the Madeiras
practice organic farming. Wines are the responsibility of Rui Madeira who also runs a
consultancy service in the Douro Superior. Three reds are bottled under the CARM label,
Classico, Grande Reserva and CARM CM in ascending order. All three display the natural
ripeness of the Douro Superior and in hot years they also display a certain amount of heady,
hot country fruit. CARM also produce small quantities of single-estate wine from Quinta
da Urze, Quinta do Bispado, Quinta das Verdalhas and Quinta da Côa. Rui Madeira also
produces a range of good and relatively inexpensive wines under the Castello d’Alba label
based on fruit grown around Freixo de Espada a Cinta, north of the Douro. As well as wine,
CARM also produce a range of organic olive oil, pressed on the property.
Quinta do crasto*
Sociedade Agricola da Quinta do Crasto
Quinta do crasto, Gouvinhas, 5060-063 sabrosa. tel. (351) 254 920020
http://www.quintadocrasto.pt
On one of the most spectacularly situated properties in the Douro, the Roquette family at
Quinta do Crasto produce some of the region’s most alluring red wines. The sixty-five hectares