Complex notes of black fruit jam with spices (black pepper, cloves) combined with notes of coffee, berries and cigars. Complex palate with notes of spices and dark chocolate, with good structure and lingering finish.

Founded in 1973 by José Roquette and Joaquim Bandeira, Esporão’s mission is to make the finest wines from what nature provides.

Herdade do Esporão is located 170km from Lisbon, integrated in Alentejo DOC in Reguengos de Monsaraz sub-region. From the 2019 vintage onwards, all wines produced with our own grapes will have organic certification.

Organic vineyards planted on granite and schist base, with a loam & clay structure. Average age of vines is 20 years.

It was a dry and hot year, with the vineyard’s inherent challenges, but the vines are well prepared and showed their resilience, providing wholesome grapes. The bunches featured smaller berries, which limited the yield but benefited the quality and concentration of aromas and flavours. During the harvest we faced some challenges, many days of intense heat and some rain, but which resulted in grapes and wines with an elegant and balanced profile.

Each variety was vinified separately, destemmed and crushed. Temperature controlled alcoholic fermentation in a combination of stainless steel vats, concrete tanks and small marble basins. Malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks is followed by 12 months ageing in American (60%) and French (40%) oak barrels. After bottling, the wine is further aged 8 months in the bottle.

Great match to grilled meats, mature cheese or mushroom risotto.