A Wine & Soul renovation at Quinta da Manoella

Off to an exciting start of the year with a wine trip to the Douro Valley. During 3 days I’ve visited a few wineries, met and discussed with producers and  barrel-tasted some 2015s and 2016s wines. Definitely a promising year ahead with some very good releases in the horizon.

‪Wine & Soul‘s Douro winemaking couple Sandra Tavares da Silva & Jorge Serôdio Borges (of Pintas fame) are painstakingly restoring the centenarian terraces, vines & houses of Quinta da Manoella with the goal “to create wines that express all the characters of the traditional vineyards and varieties of the Douro Valley”.

‪Terraces, walls and old vines at Quinta da Manoella. The unique landscape of the Douro.

A sunny morning in Vale de Mendiz where Wine & Soul’s winemaking facilities (including some classic foot-threadeding stone “lagares”) and HQ is located.

The Quinta da Manoella vineyard goes all the way down to the river. It also includes areas of dense forest which contribute to the overall balance of the local ecosystem.

One of the houses at Quinta da Manoella under renovation.

Douro soil: schist. The slate-like metamorphic rock is the challenging soil in which Douro vines work (very) deep & hard to make magic happen.

Mellow  winter sun in a cold Douro morning at Quinta da Manoella.

A tree with a view at Quinta da Manoella.

Sandra and Jorge keeping an eye on their young riverside Touriga Nacional vineyard (grafted with Touriga Nacional from their own old vines) at Quinta da Manoella.

Wow & Wow. A world-class age-worthy 2011 Douro red (here in magnum) coming from a 100 yr-old vine surrounded by forrest. Superlative. Definitely a favorite. Preceded by a gorgeously aged Douro white (right) from a 50 yr-old vine (oak fermented: Gouveio, Viosinho, Rabigato and Códega do Larinho). Definitely Wine & Soul.

First tasting of the Pintas 2014. Coming from (pre-2014-rain harvested) grapes from an 80-yr-old vineyard with more than 30 different portuguese varieties. Fruit elegance, focused intensity, lovely smooth-but-deep finish. All very well together. So ready to show itself now and yet so much more to tell in the next 10/15 years. What a pleasure. A very good vintage from a Douro classic.

The first ever Pintas Vintage Port Wine made in 2003. One of the warmest years ever producing a highly-attractive-yet-complex, grippy, age-worthy Port. Would love a back-to-the-future car to taste this in 30 years.

The Wines

• OMG
  • 5G Five Generations (Tasted before. A one-of-a-kind century-old Tawny kept by Jorge’s family for 5 Generations. Limited to 1200 individually-numbered bottles. Outstanding freshness. Fabulously long. Pure magic. Inexpensive luxury at 1500 €.)
• Excellent
  • Quinta da Manoella Vinhas Velhas 2011 Magnum (Wow. World-class age-worthy 2011 red – that special year – from a 100 yr-old vine.)
  • Quinta da Manoella Vinhas Velhas 2014 (A very good example of an often difficult 2014 vintage. World-class red, age-worthy, elegance, finesse.)
  • Pintas 2014 (Pure class from a classic Douro red. 80-yr-old vineyard, 30 different portuguese varieties. Deservedly one of Douro’s best reds. Will drink spectacularly well in a few years.)
  • Pintas Vintage 2003 (First ever Wine & Soul Vintage Port. Sedutive, expressive but grippy, age-worthy.)
  • Pintas Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Fresh, peppery, bitter, elegant and persistent.)
• Very Good
  • Guru 2009 (Very well aged! Oak now fully integrated. Beautifully balanced. Very long. A white treat!)
  • Guru 2015 (Elegance, oak integrated, freshness. Beautiful balance at this young age.)
• Good
  • Manoella 2014 (Attractive Douro blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga
    Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Francisca from 35 year-old Quinta
    da Manoella vineyard.)
• Average