VINIFICATION
The 2011 agricultural year will be remembered for the relatively low rainfall during the winter and an unusually early bud break in March, together with a sudden extreme heat in June that literally led to burnt bunches in exposed and early varieties such as Tinta Barroca. Although July and the end of August were relatively cool with some light rainfall in the last days of August and the first days of September, temperatures rose and the harvest had to be accelerated to avoid shriveling of the berries.
In our Port winery, in Vale de Mendiz, the grapes were completely picked on foot with 100% stems. After fortification with brandy, the Port was left to overwinter. In the spring, the wine was transferred to a very cool part of the winery in Quinta de Nápoles and put into pipes (the classic 550 liter pipe). Maturing this Port in pipas in the Douro, rather than large barrels in Gaia and bottling Bioma "Vinha Velha" in the third year after harvest, produced an exceptionally complex wine. Oddly enough, this was the way it was done in the "old days", when the wines were shipped in pipes to England and later bottled.
TASTING NOTES
Fine dark red appearance with a dark red/purple rim. At this stage the aroma is not yet very expressive, but on the palate the wine shows great freshness and a purity of fruit, which gives elegance, together with some grainy tannins in the mid-palate which give both structure and power to the wine. It is to be expected that with another year of maturation the colour will close further.
| Volume: | 75cl |
| Alcoholpercentage: | 21% |
