Symington Altano Douro DOC Tinto 2021 (Touriga Franca blend)

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 the ones located in the Cima Corgo (middle Douro) and Douro Superior (upper Douro) sub-regions. The region for centuries were dedicated to make Port. However in the last few decades saw more wineries moving toward making dry, unfortified wines.

For the vintage 2021, the fruit comes from the family quintas. The varieties are composed by 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 2021 growth cycle and harvest were some of the coolest in recent years. While large areas of Europe experienced extreme heat (with July being the hottest ever recorded in the continent), the Douro experienced an unusually cool summer. Moderate conditions in 2021 encouraged slower, gradual maturations. Rather the berries had a balanced ripening, while the harvest itself was defined by three key periods of rain impacting our picking schedule. The remarkably cool nights contributed to excellent acidity and very good colour in the wines.

The wine is fermented in stainless steel vats with pumping over and soft maceration at low temperatures (23-25°C). This aims to extract colour and aromas and limit tannin extraction. The result produces 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 2021 was bottled in March 2023.