Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 2013

Quinta do Infantado, based in Pinhão, has been a leader in estate-bottled Ports since 1979. The estate, run by the brother and sister team of João and Catherine Roseira., is famous for producing ports that are “meio-seco” or medium-dry in style. Infantado’s wines have more natural alcohol and less sugar than other ports, meaning that less “aguardente” or grape brandy has to be added. The wines are therefore more vinous (still wine-like), more balanced and drier than most ports. The vineyards (terraced, very steep, with densely packed soil) are worked in traditional methods: all elaboration is done by hand. The hand-picked grapes ferment long and slowly in lagares (2-foot high stone tanks) and are still foot “trodden”. Less than 2% of Port is still made by this century old, labor-intensive method.The Vintage Ports of Quinta do Infantado are singularly distinctive in their “meio-seco” (medium-dry) style. The Roseira family is very careful when declaring a vintage year and will not do so if there is the least doubt about the concentration and quality of the vintage.