2019 Herdade do Sobroso Arche

Herdade do Sobroso is located in Vidigueira in the Alentejo Region. This is one of the oldest wine regions in Portugal. In the beautiful Alentejo, Herdade do Sobroso has a perfect location with its vineyards located on the banks of the river Guadiana and its river Rio dos Patos or the river of ducks. The trademark is therefore the ducks on the labels. It is the perfect setting for the ripening of the grapes and few vineyards have this luxury and this partly explains why this winery can make very nice wines because there is never water debt. In addition to having plenty of water, this region is influenced by the ocean that ensures healthy ripening and the wind keeps the vineyards healthier without the need to work with chemicals.

The Arche is the flagship and top model of Herdade do Sobroso. This is produced in a very small edition. This beautiful Herdade do Sobroso Reserva is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Alicante Bouschet, Syrah and Touriga Nacional. The grapes come from special plots and selected vines. These vines are pruned very rigorously so that only a very limited (less than 1 kg) is harvested from each vine, but those grapes are of the very best quality. Everything in the process is manual. After fermentation in stainless steel vats under controlled temperature, the wine is aged for 12 months in new 500 liter French oak barrels and the wine is bottled for a further 14 months in the cellars of the domain.

The Arche has a beautiful dark red color in the glass. In the nose the wine has nice notes of dark plums, wild berries, cocoa and vanilla and a little menthol. In the mouth it is full-bodied with velvety tannins with a long-lasting and elegant finish. This is a great red wine with everything in balance. Beautiful fruit, not exaggerated in the alcohol, a nice acidity, present tannins but very refined and a beautiful storage potential. The wine is already very nice to drink, but then it needs to be decanted for a while, but it can also be kept in the cellar for 10+ years and will then refine even further. This is a meditation wine. Certainly not cheap, but compared to its French or Italian colleagues, this is a fraction of what sometimes has to be paid for equivalent wines, so definitely a Value for Money wine. This topper is of course a perfect accompaniment to a Ribeye or Entrecote with a Roquefort sauce or with a Ree steak and then pure nature.

Fact : The Arche of Herdade do Sobroso is a tribute to the founder of Ginestal Machado. The name ARCHÉ is a Greek name and means "Head" and together with the spelling of the E this is a "Tekton", which means "creator". Together the word "architect" or the Chief Creator is formed.