SAQ Douro DOC Pacto Palhete 2022, Carvalho Martins

Follow this link for SAQ: https://www.saq.com/fr/15311936

Summery Douro

For four generations, this family has been producing grapes in Mêda, in the Douro Superior. The Douro, as we often forget, is a fairly vast region, and Quinta Vale do Olmo is located outside the classic fortified wine production areas.

For a long time, the family sold their grapes to the great Port houses, but the two Carvalho Martins brothers decided to make a big splash (golpe) and create a winery conducive to winemaking and the production of their own wines. This led to a pact (pacto) highlighting the qualities of the region and its traditions. In both cases, a range of wines showcasing a thoroughly modern minerality and freshness.

In the case of this Pacto, we have a blend of four grape varieties with Touriga Francesa dominating, but vinified in a palhete style. As with the revival of Claret styles, palhete is based on a vinification where the grapes undergo less extraction, resulting in lighter wines (Pinot Noir or Gamay style) with a deeper pink color rather than red. Ultimately, it’s a wine that you should chill slightly and that will charm you with its aromas of wild cherries and crisp berries.

Buy a few bottles for the beautiful season.

• To pair with it: some charcuterie for appetizers,
• A little trivia: Palhetes are sometimes produced with blends of white and red grapes in an ancestral style of field blending and co-vinification.
• To better understand the wines of Portugal: Get on the waiting list for the workshop on the subject in the fall of '24!
• To see what this house is made of in white, Pacto white 2023, $19 at the SAQ (14491251)