Quinta de Sant'Ana

Vinha do Marreco 2018

Perhaps this is the most beautiful wine made by James Frost and António Maçanita? "The wine of the humpback" is the literal translation. On the best plots of land at Quinta de Sant'Ana, Arinto grapes are planted which, in some years, are so sublime that they are used to make this exquisite wine. An excellent Arinto wine that has undergone extensive barrel aging. Beautiful high acidity ensures a very distinctive and exceptional wine.

Glass Burgundy glass

Grapes Arinto

Flavors High in acidity, yet rich and generous & stone fruit

Serve 10 - 12 degrees Celsius

Appellation Gradil, Mafra, Lisbon, Portugal

Food Asian cuisine, both light and spicy dishes, where the sweet core of the Riesling beautifully balances the spicy character. Also, dishes with raw fish, such as sushi and marinated salmon (gravlax). In addition, Portuguese dishes with octopus, such as polvo à lagareiro, and with suckling pig (leitão). Dishes with vegetables such as white asparagus.

Alcohol 14%

Winemaker António Maçanita & James Frost

Background Quinta de Sant’Ana is located just a 30-minute drive north of Lisbon. The winery is run by James Frost and António Maçanita, who produce organic wines on calcareous clay soil. António’s original and sometimes bold approach results in wines that are both traditional and surprisingly innovative for Portugal. The vineyards are close to the Atlantic Ocean, which provides ideal conditions for the production of refined and fresh wines with a distinct character.

Vineyards Organic. Vinha do Marreco is a steep, secluded south-facing plot with calcareous clay soil. Half a hectare of Arinto was planted here in 2013. The planting was anything but easy: the winter was dry, followed by a particularly wet spring and late rainfall, which was very bad for the young plants. The plot is pruned according to the Guyot system (Double Guyot) and the vines produce large clusters of golden and copper-colored grapes. 2018 was a challenging year. After a spring and early summer with cool and unpredictable weather, interspersed with untimely rain showers, we were concerned about the slow ripening of the grapes. The climate has an Atlantic influence: typically cool mornings and warm afternoons.

Harvest Manual

Vinification The grapes were whole-cluster pressed and the juice rested for 24 hours in tank for settling. Then the must was transferred to used French oak barriques, where fermentation took place at room temperature with indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation then occurred, with occasional bâtonnage, only when refilling the barrels. The wine matured for 24 months on the lees in the same barriques and then spent another 12 months in horizontally placed stainless steel tanks before being bottled.

Filtering Plate filter

Residual sugar < 1.5 grams per liter

Acidity 8.9 grams per liter

PH value 2.90

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