Symington Altano Douro DOC Tinto 2019

This Altano Douro DOC red wine is made from a combination of several traditional Douro grape varieties sourced from the Symington family’s Douro Valley vineyards, principally those located in the Cima Corgo (middle Douro) and Douro Superior (upper Douro) sub-regions. The region for centuries were dedicated to make Port, but in the last few decades saw more wineries moving toward making dry, unfortified wines.

For the vintage 2019, the fruit comes from the family quintas are Touriga Franca 40%, Tinta Roriz 30%, Tinta Barroca 30%. Tinta Roriz is the Portuguese common synonym for Tempranillo. This combination produces a fruity wine with generous body, and moderate tannin.

The climate condition of 2019 had been above average. It had relatively cool summer, but exceptionally dry. The August saw some much needed rains. The picking season itself was blessed with ideal harvest conditions throughout September with clear sunny days bringing
moderate temperatures that contributed to balanced ripening. Yields were closer to average, greater than previous two vintages.

The wine is fermented in stainless steel vats with pumping over and soft maceration at low temperatures (23-25°C) aiming to extract colour and aromas and limit tannin extraction in order to produce a wine that favours fresh, floral aromatics and ripe fruit flavours. After the wines had been aged in both stainless steel vats and some 400 liter French and American oak barrels for more than a year. The batch of 2019 harvest were bottled in February 2021.