Casa Ferreirinha Planalto Douro Branco 2020  £10.83

Casa Ferreirinha Planalto Douro Branco

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.

This white blend comes from high-altitude vineyards above the river Douro. The soil in the Douro Valley is schistous; a slate-like metamorphic rock that fractures vertically - allowing vine roots to dig deep to access water and nutrients to sustain them through the hot Douro summers. The poor quality of the soil forces the grapes to produce low yields of grapes with a great concentration of flavour. The grapes were harvested by hand and were selected for their balance between flavour intensity and freshness.