Pedra Alta - Pedra No. 3 White Port, Douro, Portugal (NV)

TASTING NOTES

A bold, spicy nose, with loads of black currant, ripe plum, strawberry and baking spice. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, with good grip. The black fruits continue, with a touch of raisined, dried fruit elements, along with pipe tobacco, vanilla, mocha and anise. 

A blend of primarily Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional with very small amounts of Tinta Barroca and Fernão Pires.

Named after the river which runs throughout the Iberian peninsula before entering the Atlantic Ocean, the Douro region is best known for producing the fortified wine, Port. The climate here is hot and dry, with steep terraced vineyards combining to produce extremely ripe grapes and subsequently full-flavoured, high alcohol wines.

In the heart of the Douro Valley’s Cima Corgo sub-region, you’ll find a winery that strikes a fine balance between tradition and modernity, elegantly showcasing the exciting breadth of offerings coming out of Portugal these days.

Quinta da Pedra Alta is the long-time dream-come-true of a small group of family and friends from the United Kingdom, who purchased the historic property in 2018. Their 35 hectares of steep, terraced vineyards are the archetype Douro landscape, dramatically rising from the eponymous river that meanders through northern Portugal. Only autothynous, Portuguese grapes are planted on poor, schist-based soils, namely Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinto Roriz for reds and Gouveio, Rabigato and Viosinho for whites.

The winemaking is led by two young and dynamic individuals, Joao Pires from Portugal and Matt Gant from Australia. As is tradition in the area, all wines are blends and grapes are crushed via foot treading in granite lagares. Only wild yeasts are used in fermentation and oak aging is measured. Pedra Alta wines are at once powerful and refined, offering up loads of Douro Valley warmth alongside structure and sophistication.

15-20 year-old vines are planted at an elevation of between 250 and 400 meters above sea level in schist-based soils. 4,500 vines per hectare trained via single and double cordon and guyot methods. Hand-harvested in the morning to ensure the grapes stayed cool. They were hand-sorted and de-stemmed at the winery, then fermented via wild yeasts in a combination of granite and stainless steel. Following primary fermentation, the wine goes through malolactic conversion in stainless steel tanks and older French barriques and Hogsheads. Further matured sur lie for 18 months prior to bottling.