This red wine blend is made from the isabela, vidueño and a mix of local old vine varietals. The wine is produced by António Maçanita, a renowned Portuguese winemaker who founded the Azores Wine Company on the island of Pico in the Azores archipelago.
The grapes are sourced from sustainably grown vines planted in volcanic basalt soils at sea level (0 m elevation). António has rescued an old plot of the unique Isabella grape variety for this passion project, to showcase its potential for making spectacular wine.
The wine is made using traditional methods, with the grapes harvested by hand into 40 kg baskets. After manual bunch selection, the wine undergoes a 24 hour maceration in stainless steel tanks. It is then gravity-flow racked into 600 and 1000 L stainless steel tanks where it is aged for 12 months.
The resulting wine has a brilliant ruby-purple color. On the nose, it displays explosive aromas of sour cherry, cranberry, sour beer, beef blood, and sea spray. The palate is characterized by high-toned, juicy red cherry fruit, mouth-watering acidity and a pronounced salinity. The wine finishes with umami-laden flavors of meat, seaweed and wet stone, showing impressive clarity and concentration.
