Herdade do Peso, `Trinca Bolotas` Alentejo Tinto

Tasting Notes

This wine is ruby red in colour. On the nose, there are vibrant aromas of ripe and juicy blackberries, black cherries and plums. On the palate it is well-balanced, with smooth tannins and a refreshing acidity. A perfect food wine with excellent structure and a lingering finish.

Producer

Situated in the south of the Alentejo, in the Vidígueira sub-region, the Herdade do Peso estate covers 457 hectares. On the estate are 160 hectares of vineyard planted on gently rolling hills, a new eco-friendly winery, an on-site reservoir and remarkable olive groves which date back to Roman times.

Despite its southerly location, Vidígueira is one of the cooler Alentejo sub-regions and benefits from cool Atlantic air funnelled inland by a gap in the coastal hills. The limestone soils of the estate also lend elegance to the wines. The vineyards are planted predominantly to red varieties, with just eight hectares planted to white varieties. A lot of work has gone into mapping the 12 different soil types on the estate and each variety is matched to its ideal plot.

The talented Luís Cabral de Almeida, who has a post-graduate degree from Australia’s Charles Sturt University and worked for many years in the Finca Flichman winery in Mendoza, leads the winemaking team. Luís is very involved in the management of the Herdade do Peso vineyards and believes that “the oenologist’s primary role is to interpret nature”. The Herdade do Peso wines reflect the unique sense of place of Vidígueira, they are exuberant, ripe and generous, yet kept in balance by a refreshing acidity.

‘Trinca Bolotas’, meaning ‘acorn muncher’, is a nod to the acorn-eating Iberian black pigs native to the Alentejo region. An unoaked blend of Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bouschet and Aragonez, it is bursting with ripe and juicy blackberry, black cherry and plum flavours.

Vineyards

Despite its southerly location, Vidígueira is one of the cooler Alentejo sub-regions and benefits from cool Atlantic air funnelled inland from the coast by a gap in the surrounding mountains. The Herdade do Peso vineyards are planted on rolling hills and 12 different soil types have been identified with a predominance of limestone, which controls vine vigour and lends elegance to the wines. Precision viticulture is carried out on the estate and each grape variety has been matched to its ideal plot. All of the vineyards are sustainably farmed and the on-site reservoir provides much-needed water to irrigate the vineyards during the warm Alentejo summers.