Estate-grown Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Cão and Tinta Roriz are the dominant grapes in our Douro DOC Red and Rosé Wines. To ensure more fruit and less acidity, we harvest the grapes for the DOC Red and Rosé Wines before the grapes harvested for the Portos.

Douro DOC Red Wine

The Douro Valley appellation allows for 55 hl of must per hectare/588 gallons of must per acre of vineyard. However, due to the terraced landscape at Quinta do Tedo, we produce only 30-35 hl of must per hectare/320-375 gallons of must per acre.

To avoid fluctuations in pricing of Portos, at the beginning of each harvest, the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto, together with the Porto houses and grape growers, set a fixed quantity of must per hectare that can be used for making Porto. This amount depends on the quantity of Porto stock leftover in the Douro Valley from previous harvests and the expected quality and quantity of grapes for the current harvest. The set amount also varies from Quinta to Quinta, based on the appellation grade of its vineyards (A, B, C, D, E or F).

For Quinta do Tedo, and other prestigious class "A" Quintas, the limit of the amount of Porto production is set higher than that of a lower grade appellation. The grapes that aren’t used to make Porto are used to make DOC Red Wines.

Quinta do Tedo’s Douro DOC Red Wines are produced mainly with 4 grape varieties grown on the property: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Cão and Tinta Roriz. To ensure more fruit and less acidity, we harvest the grapes for the DOC Red Wines before the grapes for the Portos.

Red Wine Production

All of Quinta do Tedo's Douro DOC Red Wines are produced from class "A" estate-grown, indigenous grapes (organically certified since 2011 harvest). Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinto Cão are the principal grapes.

We do not look for the same grape characteristics for our Douro DOC Red Wines as for our Portos - a great vintage Porto year is not necessarily a great table wine year.  For our DOC Red Wines, we look for grapes with less ripeness, no over-ripeness, a very good balance between fruit and acidity and a tannin structure that promises a long finish on the palate. Via scientific analysis in the lab and regular sampling and tasting in the vineyard, we can determine the grapes' date of optimal maturation, at which point we start to harvest. Generally, the table wine harvest starts one week before the Porto grape harvest in September. We hand-pick the grapes from separate parcels.

After de-stemming and crushing, rather than sending the grapes to the lagars as we do to produce Porto, we send them directly to refrigerated stainless steel tanks. Here they are punched down on a daily basis to encourage maceration. They remain in the tanks between 10/15 days, or until fermentation is complete and the desired extraction of color, tannin and alcohol is achieved. The fermented juice is then drained into another stainless steel tank where a portion of freshly pressed juice is added. It remains here for 24 hours, until natural sedimentation is complete. The new, naturally-filtered wine is transferred to 225 liter/60 gallon French oak barrels. The percentage of new French oak varies, depending on the wine’s concentration and the year and parcel it came from.

Here, malolactic fermentation occurs (softening the wine by micro-oxidation of the grape’s tannins) as the wine goes through the first phase of ageing. The oak adds different tannins that are not found in the grapes. It also stabilizes the wine’s already intense color, broadens its structure and lengthens its finish. Depending on the wine, we top off regularly to compensate the wine’s water content evaporation through the wood, that results in natural concentration of the wine’s aroma and flavor. The winemaker tastes individual barrels from each vineyard parcel on a regular basis during the wine’s evolution, deciding the necessary number of rackings and time of aging.

Once malolactic fermentation is complete (after about 9 -10 months), the winemaker will taste individual barrels from each vineyard parcel to decide the future aging of the wine before bottling. The barrels holding wine with less complexity, are blended together and bottled to make the traditional Douro DOC Red Wine. The barrels holding wine with more complexity and structure will age from 18 to 22 months to produce a minimum of 2,000 bottles of either Reserva or Grande Reserva Savedra.

We produce Douro DOC every year, the Reserva in great years and the Grande Reserva Savedra only in superb years. All of our wines, expressing soft and mouth-filling fruit flavors, can be enjoyed young. However, the Douro DOC is best between 2.5 to 4 years after harvest, the Reserva 3.5 to 5 years after harvest and the Grande Reserva Savedra 4.5+ years after harvest.