Made from a mélange of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, and Tinta Roriz, this is powerful, yet graceful wine. Haunting aromas of black fruits, plum and cherry. mingle with dusty mineral notes and autumnal dried leaves. The black cherry, plum flavors with notes of dried herbs are rich and round, showing savory notes from bottle age and balanced with tangy acidity and ripe, developed tannins. Serve it with a grilled steak. Portugal’s dramatically beautiful Douro Valley is best known for its fortified sweet wines called Port. In 1972 a new appellation, Douro DOC, was created for dry red wines, a style attributed to Fernando Nicolau de Almeida, technical director of the Ferreira Port House. He made the first modern dry red wine in 1952 and named it Barca Velha. The Casa Ferreirnha name pays tribute to Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, an affectionate nickname which means “the little Ferreira.” In 1845 she very ably took over the family business, Ferreira Port, the first Portuguese owned Port House. Quinta da Leda is dedicated to dry wine production, with 160 hectares (395 acres) of traditional grape vines and a state-of-the-art modern winery. Today, Ferreira Port and Casa Ferreirnha. are part the Sogrape Vinhos, owned by the Guedes family.
Casa Ferreirnha, Douro DOC (Portugal) 2013
By Rebecca Murphy