Paulo Saturnino Cunha is the owner of the Quinta do Alqueve, a terrific property in the Ribatejo region of Portugal, approximately 40 miles north of Lisbon. He has worked hard to transform his family’s farm of many generations – planting nearly 140 acres of tightly spaced vineyards 20 years ago in the sandy, dry calcaire soil. Paulo decided to use grape varieties that originate from the region of Porto, including Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, which is better known as Tempranillo in Spain. These wines are made very carefully - starting in the vineyards. Yields are severely controlled, crop-thinning is done twice each season, and all the fruit is picked by hand and hand-sorted before vinification.
Touriga Nacional is Portugal’s principal grape used to produce fortified Port wines. It is only recently that the non-fortified wines have been showing up in the wine shops in America. This example is full bodied with explosive flavors of ripe cassis and black fruit. The mouth feel is round and well balanced with spice and oak flavors showing through the finish. This cuvée was aged in French oak. There were only 25 barrels produced of this wine.
Contact: rks@robertkacherselections.com
