Casa Ferreirinha 'Quinta da Leda' Douro Tinto is a full-bodied portuguese red with an intensity and elegance that will captivate your senses. Expect a nose of ripe fruits and spicy notes of cocoa and tobacco, whilst an inviting velvet tannin and refreshing acidity balances the palate to a lingering finish.

Industry Review

by Julia Harding MW
Casa Ferreirinha 'Quinta da Leda' Douro Tinto - Drinking Window: now to 2030

"In this hot, dry year, they used more fruit from the cooler sites (higher or north-facing) as well as picking earlier. Very dark with black core. Back to riper black fruits of plums and damsons in this warmer, drier year. Sweet and slightly leathery on the nose but that eucalyptus character comes out with time in the glass. On the palate, lots of chewy grip but not in the least astringent. Polished but present tannins and avoids the overripeness of many of the 2017s I have tasted so it keeps its dark, rocky Douro character. Surprisingly savoury and dark, with dark chocolate on the finish. Oak well integrated."

About the Producer

Casa Ferreirinha was the first Douro producer dedicated entirely to making table wines, rather than Port. Its origins date back to 1952 when Fernando Nicolau de Almeida produced the first ever vintage of Barca-Velha and kickstarted the quality revolution in Douro table wines. Named after the legendary Dona Antónia Ferreira, one of the formidable widows of the world of wine, Casa Ferreirinha pays homage to the memory of this visionary woman. Today, the winemaking team is headed up by Luís Sottomayor, who restrains the Douro’s natural exuberance to produce wines that have a vibrant freshness allied to a lovely texture and depth.

Vineyard and Winery

A blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão and Tinta Roriz grown on the 170-hectare Quinta da Leda estate. Quinta da Leda is located in the far eastern reaches of the Douro Superior, just 12 kilometres from the border with Spain. The vineyards are planted on rolling hills on the south bank of the Douro and are a complex patchwork of plots with different aspects and microclimates, each matched to a specific grape variety following a study that was carried out in collaboration with the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro de Vila Real. Soils are composed predominantly of schist, which fractures vertically and allows the vine roots to delve deep to access water and nutrients during the hot Douro summers.

Upon arrival at the Quinta da Leda winery, the hand-harvested grapes were fully destemmed and gently crushed. Fermentation took place in stainless-steel tanks and the varieties were cofermented, though the grapes from the best sites began fermentation in robotic lagares with a day of pigeage. Malolactic fermentation took place in old oak barrels. The wines were then aged for 12 months in 225-litre and 500-litre French oak barrels, around 50% of which were new. After numerous tastings and analysis, the final blend was assembled by Luís Sottomayor and the winemaking team and was aged for a further six months in barrel before being lightly filtered and bottled.