Grape
Rufete (90%), Jaen (10%)
Vine age: 5 years
Soil composition: Quinta da Boavista beyond the typical Dão old granitic soils, has also plots with even older origin due to marine sediments, from 500 million years ago, which originated shale clayey rocks soils, which result wines with such a peculiar minerality character. Besides that, clay soils allow longer cycles with slower ripeness resulting in deeper and more intense wines.
Vineyard: 5,9 hectares where the grape varieties are grown
Direction of sun exposure: South
Altitude: 550m
Yield: 8 ton per hectare
VITICULTURE
Vine training: Mixed system between simple cordon and guyot, which is used to renew the plant every 3 years. Green harvesting & Crop thinning
Viticulture practices: No-till, grass cover cropping is practiced and although the vineyards are not certified organic, they are farmed under organic and sustainable practices. Organic practices are used in vineyard such as use of copper and sulphur; flowers and herbs such as chamomile act as fungus repellent and other flower's pollen protect our vines in wet springs.
Applications: Without use of herbicides, pesticides, or any other applications
Biodiversity and sustainability: The vineyard's floor is covered with autochthonous flowers such as chamomile (Matricaria recutita), clover, serradella and also some different types of grasses. At end of each row there are autochthonous lavenders (Lavandula stoechas) which act as natural defense for vines against fungi and any other disease. The vines are surrounded by oaks (Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica), pines (Pinus pinaster) and eucalyptus. We can find lots of different birds, bees, ladybirds and on the soil ants and lots of soil earthworms. Given the winery is covered in photovoltaic cells; making Quinta da Boavista a net exporter of electricity we could promote our wines as carbon neutral.
Harvest date: Normally at first week of September or latter, at second.
Harvest methods: Manual harvest to boxes of 15kg. Red Rufia is a co-fermentation wine, so the three different grape varieties are harvested in the same day and fermented together.
VINIFICATION
Sorting: vineyard sorting and manual triage in sorting table
De-stemming: bunches pass through the de-stemmer Total time on skins: no skin contact
Type of fermentation vessel: Closed stainless steel tank.
Yeasts: Wild Native Yeasts with spontaneous fermentation
Fermentation starting: Spontaneous fermentation starting in 1 day
Length of time of fermentation: between 15 days, until it is completely dry Temperature-control: No Temperature-controlled fermentation Time on lees: Long lees contact Stage of 8 months with primary lees
Stirring of lees: No
Malolactic fermentation: Yes (spontaneous)
Type and time of ageing vessel: stainless steel tank during lees contact of 8 months.
Fined / Filtration: No
TECHNICALINFORMATION
pH 3,3 | TA 5,5 g/L | VA 0,56 g/L | Alc 12,6% | Residual Sugar: 0,8 g/L | Total SO2 35mg/L | Free SO2 Less than 22mg/L
SO2 addict: Added just before bottling
Chaptalization/acidification: Wine no chaptalized or acidified; we reach the wanted balance harvesting the different grapes varieties in the same day and so we blend grapes with different concentrations of sugar and natural acidity to reach an enjoyable balance
Enzymes use: No enzymes used during fermentation or ageing
Bottling date: May 2019
Release date: May 2019
Type of closure: Cork
Quantity produced/year: 3.000 bottles