Esporão Private select Red 2012

Esporão Private Selection Red is an extension of Esporão Garrafeira Red, which was first launched in 1987. Initially, we simply chose the best barrels of Esporão Reserva; however, over time, we began to understand our vineyards better, naturally developing a selection of the finest plots at the Herdade. At the end of the 1990s, we built a winery exclusively for this wine, which became the focus of our attention. In 2001, Esporão Private Selection White was produced, which was designed to challenge the classic profile of great wines from the Alentejo.
Its solid structure, personality and complexity are the result of climactic conditions, the selection of the finest grapes from our terroir and our winemakers’ creativity. These are exclusive wines, made in small quantities for intense and intimate moments.
Every year we invite an artist to illustrate its labels, thus combining the Portuguese culture of winemaking with art.VINEYARD
Each variety is grown in a distinct part of our estate vineyards where, with a more concise viticultural approach, we can achieve a pure expression of each variety.

Tasting Notes Dark berry fruit aromatics with complex notes of spice and smoke. The palate is both rich and dense, with balancing fine tannins and finishing acidity.
Vinification/Maturation Each variety was vinified and aged separately. Syrah and Aragonez were fermented in small open stainless steel fermenters with regular pumpovers and foot treading employed during the fermentation phase. Alicante is fermented in a small static closed fermenter with regular pumpovers. This is a milder fermentation regime because of the softer skin of this variety and the potential for over extraction. After pressing, the varieties are kept separate to assess their quality potential. Malolactic fermentation takes place naturally in the barrel. 30% new and 70% used (one year old), 225 liter, French oak barrels. After 18 months ageing, with only one transfer after the completion of the malolactic fermentation, the final blends are made. Bottling was done on 28th May 2014 with only a light pre filtration and no fining.
Technical info BOTTLING May 2014 TOTAL ACIDITY 6.75 g/l PH 3.6 REDUCING SUGAR 2 g/l
Wine Maker David Baverstock and Luís Patrão

Producer Website

www.esporao.com

alentejo-02
Dão Region

Sizes Available

750ml

Alcohol By Volume

14.50%

Age of Vines

Terroir

Canto do Zé Cruz vineyard – The soils are clay-loam with stony outcrops of granite.Telheiro vineyard – The soil is of schistous origin, stony and skeletal.Palmeiras vineyard – Deep clay soils.
Tech Sheet
Bottle Image