Quinta De Romaneira Sino De Romaneira Douro 2021 (750ml)

 

Quinta Da Romaneira Sino Da Romaneira 2021

 

In the Sino, the image used is as always that of the 18th century bell over the gate of the principal Quinta house.  The grapes for the Sino are sourced from various sites within the quinta, with a preponderance of Touriga Francesa and Tinta Roriz.
 

The Wine

 

The Sino red wine from Romaneira is vinified from the classical Douro varieties of Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Tinto Cão.  Fresh and elegant with soft approachable tannins, this is a wine that expresses the wild beauty of its Douro origins.  The name “Sino” refers to the Portuguese word for the ancient bell that hangs over the entrance to the main house of the Quinta, and which is represented on the label of the wine.

 

Tasting Notes

 

An elegant red wine with a clear and appealing aromatic profile, dominated by notes of fresh, wild red fruits.  On the palate, it shows delicacy and precision, with flavours of ripe red fruits, a smooth texture and fine, well integrated tannins.  A subtle mineral component and balanced acidity lend freshness and definition, leading to a pleasant, harmonious and expressive finish.

 

Grape Variety:  Touriga Franca 40% Tinta Roriz 35% Touriga Nacional 20% Tinto Cão 5%

 

Alcohol:  14.5%

 

Vinification

 

The wine underwent fermentation in temperature controlled conical stainless-steel vats, kept between 25 and 28 °C, with extraction managed through pumping over.  Malolactic fermentation was likewise conducted in stainless steel vats.

 

Ageing

 

100% aged in oak barrels for 10 months, 30% 2nd year and 70% 3rd year French oak 225lts barrels.

 

Vintage 2021

 

The 2021 viticultural year began with a wet winter and mild spring, leading to early budburst in March.  April's regular rain replenished soil water reserves.  May's early flowering indicated a potential early harvest.  In contrast, June was challenging with hot, humid weather, thunderstorms, and hail, but Romaneira remained unscathed.  July brought milder conditions and this continued into August, which facilitated a slow, even ripening of the grapes.  The red wines are attractive, reflecting the unique Romaneira terroir and surprising with their pronounced freshness and we expect these reds to age well in barrels.  The red grape harvest started on August 24th, followed by a series of significant rain events in early September.  We suspended the harvest until September 21st.  Grapes then continued their ripening under favorable conditions, marked by sunny weather and moderate temperatures.  This led to the successful completion of the harvest on October 6th, under clear sunny skies.

 

 

Quinta da Romaneira

 

Quinta da Romaneira is located next to the Douro River, in the heart of Cima Corgo – the center of the three wine production zones of Port and Douro.

We are located in Cotas, between Pinhão and Alijó, about an hour and a half from Porto and five hours from Lisbon.

 

Romaneira is one of the largest estates in the region, totaling 412 hectares and boasting 3 kilometers of river frontage on the Douro River.  The vines are planted in terraces on the property's steep slopes.  With numerous valleys and promontories, Romaneira features diverse microclimates and various slopes facing southeast, south, and southwest.  Several Romaneira wines are specific to the location and originate from small individual plots within the Quinta.  Other wines, such as Dona Clara or Reserva, come from various locations throughout the Quinta, reflecting the complexity and diversity of the entire vineyard.  All our wines are made exclusively from grapes grown in our own vineyard, a distinctive characteristic of Quinta da Romaneira wines.

 

A redefined and redesigned range of wines

 

Quinta da Romaneira is a vast property, with nearly four kilometres of river frontage on the majestic Douro River.  Within our 412 hectares, 86 hectares are planted with vines, in various sites within the property, at different altitudes and with different aspects.  The ensemble makes up a great individual terroir, that of Quinta da Romaneira, and we have wines that are made up of selections from parcels throughout our vineyard.  But within the territory of Romaneira, there exist many micro terroirs, distinguished by their unique situation, planted often with one noble grape variety, perfectly suited to that specific place, that aspect, that elevation.  For this reason, we decided to redefine our wine range, and to redesign our labels to reflect this new precision as to the individual origins of each wine.  Each wine produced at Romaneira now has a label with an engraved image reflecting the identity of the wine and the place where the grapes come from that make the wine.  We also have three blended red wines that use sources from all over the quinta.

 

Port Wines

 

Quinta da Romaneira is today known for its range of Douro red and white wines, which constitute the majority of our production.  However, we dedicate a significant portion of our vineyard to the production of a full range of Port wines.  All of our Port wines come exclusively from our own vineyards, so at all quality levels, our Ports are terroir wines, expressions of the unique personality of our Quinta.  Romaneira is one of the great historic Port wine estates, known for producing Vintage and Tawny Ports of the highest quality for two centuries.  Today, our Vintage Ports and our Colheitas in particular once again manage to express the unique grandeur of our terroir, historically recognized as one of the great vineyards in the Douro Valley.

 

Vineyard

 

The decision to renovate Romaneira in 2004 was based on the belief, justified since then by the extraordinary quality of the wines we have been able to produce, that Romaneira possesses one of the great viticultural terroirs of the Douro.  Our old vines have been lovingly renovated and cared for.  Vines have also been replanted, offering a broader expression of the various microclimates and individual terroirs of the Quinta.  The vineyard now has 86 hectares planted, mainly with the noble Douro grape varieties Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz and Tinto Cão, but also a significant proportion of white grapes (Gouveio, Viosinho, Boal and Rabigato).  We also have several hectares planted with Syrah and Petit Verdot, both producing excellent results at Romaneira, both as specific varietal wines of the location and in the Dona Clara blend.

 

Cellar

 

Although technology alone cannot make a great wine, without the right tools even a good team with a great terroir can find life difficult.  We decided to build a new winery in Romaneira in 2005.  For Christian Seely and Antonio Agrellos, this was a long-dreamed-of opportunity to build, from scratch, the ideal Douro Valley winery.  Most Douro wineries are far from ideal, dating back to their 18th or even 17th-century origins.  This makes them very picturesque, but generally not very practical.  In Romaneira, we were able to dig a large hole in the ground and then build the winery we wanted, two-thirds underground (aesthetically very beautiful but also very practical for storing wines in cool and stable conditions).  Our lagares (wine presses) are made of stainless steel, meaning that in addition to all the traditional advantages of foot treading for Port wine, we also benefit from the technical ability to heat and cool them.  Our winery consists of temperature-controlled, truncated conical stainless steel tanks, which gives us the flexibility needed to fully express the personality of the Romaneira vineyard.

 

History

 

18th and 19th Centuries

 

In 1757, at the time of the Pombaline demarcations, there were already plots of vineyards, as well as some of the estates that would become part of Romaneira.  Thus, 1757 is only the year of the official registration of the estate (made at the time of these demarcations decided by the Marquis of Pombal), since the vines would have been planted some decades earlier.

Father Vilaça Bacelar inherited the lands of Romaneira in 1844 and did not go unnoticed by Joseph James Forrester when he created his engraving of Rua Nova dos Ingleses (today Rua Infante D. Henrique).  The priest is among the few Portuguese figures residing in Porto to be portrayed, obviously accompanied by numerous Englishmen.  Curiously, Romaneira has had its commercial office on that same street in the city of Porto since 2011.  Romaneira also appears on the famous Map of Baron Forrester, dated 1843, with the name "Quinta dos Reis".  The abundance of rosemary would later give the property its current name.

Still in the 19th century, Joaquim de Souza Guimarães (whose initials are present at the top of a gate of one of the Quinta's houses, dated 1854) had the glory of producing the Port wines of 1861 and 1863, which the British auction house "Christie's" put up for sale in 1872.  This was a clear indication of the brand's prestige, considering it was the first Single Quinta Port to be auctioned there.

Several references are made to the property in works by great 19th-century authors, such as Henry Vizetelly, who dedicated himself to the study of Port wine.  The Viscount of Vila Maior also classified Romaneira wine as "one of the best in the Douro, notable for its smoothness, body and aroma".  The same Viscount mentioned that the Tempranillo grape variety was originally imported from Spain and first introduced to the Douro at Romaneira, later being called Tinta Roriz.
 
20th Century

In 1942, Arnaldo Dias Monteiro de Barros bought Romaneira, incorporating several neighboring estates he had acquired in the meantime, making Romaneira an extremely large property by Douro standards.
 
21st Century
 

In 2004, Christian Seely turned his dream into reality, bringing together a group of investors to acquire Romaneira, a property with 412 hectares and more than 3 kilometers of river frontage.  Since then, Romaneira has benefited from extensive renovation, reconstruction, and replanting.
 

In late 2012, André Esteves, a Brazilian businessman also passionate about the Douro region, became the main shareholder of Romaneira, in partnership with Christian Seely.  With both partners sharing the same dream, the Quinta has since consolidated its position among the elite producers of Douro wines and Port wines.  Today, after more than 260 years of existence, Quinta da Romaneira expresses through its wines the full potential of the grandeur of its historic terroir.  Many of the vineyard plots continue to bear the names of the old pre-phylloxera properties that were originally acquired to create the Romaneira vineyard as it exists today:

Liceiras, Carrapata, Malhadal, Barca, Bairral and Pulga – most of them classified in the Pombaline demarcations of 1757 as producers of "Vinho de Feitoria" (the highest quality at the time – with export capacity through the "English Factory" of Porto).