1808 Field Blend Beira Interior

Description

1808 Field Blend Beira Interior 2018 — 80-year-old vines, organic and vegan, forty years of cellaring

A field blend of traditional Beira Interior varieties from a single old vineyard at 690 metres. Thirty-six months in French oak, a month of cuvaison, cellaring to 2062.

The vineyard is 80 years old, planted east to west at 690 metres and 155 kilometres from the Atlantic — as far from the ocean as Portugal gets. It yields four tonnes per hectare. This is high plain country, where summer is fierce and winter brings wind and snow, and the swing between them is what gives the fruit its structure.

Certified organic and vegan. Hand-harvested in the first week of October. Partial destemming and crushing, three days of cold maceration, twelve days of fermentation without temperature control, gentle foot treading twice a day and a full month of cuvaison. Malolactic in new and used French oak, then 36 months in barrel. 14% alcohol.

Intense and complex on the nose: plum, balsamic notes and wood. The palate carries ripe tannin alongside the plum and balsamic depth.

Serve at 18 ºC. Cellaring 2022–2062. Pairs with pata negra, aged cheese, game stew and cured sausage. First vintage produced: 2018.

Read more in the Journal

• Field Blend
• Wine Ageing