A delicate pale pink colour. On the nose precise red fruit aromas of strawberry and cherry are coupled with hints of violet – a signature aroma of Touriga Nacional. A refreshing acidity on the palate carries the bright flavours onto the crisp, elegant finish.

The origins of Casa Ferreirinha date back to 1952, with the production of the first ever vintage of Barca-Velha. Fernando Nicolau de Almeida kickstarted the quality revolution in Douro still wines, with Casa Ferreirinha becoming the first producer in the region dedicated entirely to producing still wine, rather than Port. Named after the legendary Porto matriarch Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, one of the formidable widows of the world of wine, Casa Ferreirinha pays homage to the memory of this visionary woman.

Purchased by Sogrape in 1987, Casa Ferreirinha comprises 520 hectares of vineyard in all three Douro sub-regions: Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior. The staggeringly beautiful Quinta da Leda is Casa Ferreirinha’s flagship estate. Located close to the border with Spain, in the far east of the Douro Superior, it is the source of grapes for many of Casa Ferreirinha’s top wines.

The great Luís Sottomayor has been head winemaker at Casa Ferreirinha since 1989 and restrains the Douro’s natural exuberance to produce wines that have vibrant freshness, allied to a beautiful texture and depth. The care with which Luís selects the fruit for each wine is especially evident in the quality of the white wines. Most whites from the Douro are influenced by the heat, yet Casa Ferreirinha’s ‘Planalto’, from higher elevation vineyards, is deliciously fresh and vibrant. The unoaked ‘Papa Figos’ white, a blend of Rabigato, Viosinho, Gouveio, Arinto and Códega, is also wonderfully crisp and aromatic. Quinta do Sairrão, one of the coolest vineyard sites in the Cima Corgo, planted at 600 metres above sea level, is the source of grapes for Casa Ferreirinha’s ‘Vinha Grande’ white and rosé. The white is partially fermented and aged for six months in new French oak barrels, creating a complex and textured expression with a buttery richness from the oak. The ‘Vinha Grande’ rosé, made from 100% Touriga Nacional, boasts bright aromas of red berries, coupled with hints of violet and a lively acidity.

The Casa Ferreirinha reds are all characterised by great depth of flavour. They range from the unoaked, ripe and juicy ‘Esteva’ and ‘Papa Figos’, to the oak-aged ‘Vinha Grande’ and ‘Callabriga’ which marry intense and concentrated aromas of red and black fruit with subtle spicy hints of tobacco box and cocoa. The ‘Quinta da Leda’, a blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz and Sousão grown on the eponymous estate, is aged for 18 months in oak barrels, 50% of which are new. It is a wine of great complexity and elegance, with velvety tannins, vibrant acidity and aromas of ripe blackberry and plum, cedary spicy notes and a subtle slate-like minerality. The ‘Castas Escondidas’, meaning ‘hidden varieties’, is an exciting red blend of some of the lesser-known grape varieties of the Douro Valley such as Bastardo, Marufo Tinto, Touriga Fêmea and Tinta Francisca along with 18% fruit from low-yielding, old, field-blend plots.

The Touriga Nacional is sourced from the Quinta do Sairrão estate, which sits at 600 metres above sea level in the Cima Corgo region. The steep vineyards here are on schist soils with vines planted in both "vinha ao alto" vertical rows and "patamar" terraces. Grapes grown at this altitude benefit from a wide diurnal temperature range, with hot days counteracted by cool nights, and the grapes undergo an ideal slow ripening process, accumulating great flavour intensity whilst retaining a vibrant natural acidity.

The grapes were hand harvested into small 20 kg boxes. Upon arrival at the winery they were very gently pressed and underwent a short cold maceration on the skins prior to fermentation, to extract aromatics and a delicate pale pink colour. The skins were then separated from the must and fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperatures to preserve the bright fruit flavours of the Touriga Nacional. The wine was matured in stainless steel and used French oak barrels for five months before the final blend was assembled and the wine was cold stabilised before bottling.