João Tereso: “The wine we always wanted to make. A field blend coming from our oldest plot (80+ years), once again co-fermented reds and whites, aged in barrel for a year. Fresh but intense, elegant and layered, this VE is one of a kind. Only 614 Bottles produced.”
Chinado Vinhas Velhas VE 2023
Region: Lisboa
Colour: Red
Grape Varieties: Field Blend
Production: 614 bottles
Technical Information
Vineyard
- Organic (Uncertified)
- Average age of vines: 80+ years
- Soil type: Clay/Limestone
Cellar
- Spontaneous fermentation
- Total SO2: 38 mg/l
- Unfined
- Unfiltered
- Alcohol: 11,34%
- Residual sugars: 1,5 g/l
- Total acidity: 6,2 g/l
- pH: 3,47
Additional Information
The wine we always wanted to make. When we began to look after this abandoned plot of vineyards, with it’s old, crooked vines, we didn't quite know what to expect from it but we soon imagined making a fine wine from it. A field blend of notice with so many different grapes, reds and whites, in it that diversity was guaranteed, all that was left was to find the right moment for harvesting these grapes in point of balance. This is what we’ve been doing since 2019on this plot we call Vinha da Esmeralda (VE), honouring the previous owner Dona Esmeralda. Every year, every vintage we come to know this plot a little better, understanding it’s delicate balance and unique expression. This 2023 was no different.
Grapes were harvested together on the 18th of September to small 12 Kg crates.
Fermentation moved smoothly and after a short maceration we pressed the wine into a 500 litre used French oak barrel, where it stayed over winter, on the lees. In the summer of 2024 we bottled 614 bottles that we rested in the cellar for another year. This VE is a fresh and elegant wine, intense, layered, structured although very drinkable and subtle.
Crafted by João Tereso, a sound engineer who ventured into winemaking in 2017 to save his grandfather’s small plots of field-blend vines in Alcobaça, an hour north of Lisbon, Portugal.
