Herdade do Mouchão, Mouchão Tinto, Alentejo, Portugal, 2017

Overview of the Wine
At the beginning of the 19th century, Thomas Reynolds migrated to the Alentejo region with the cork business as his goal. Three generations later, his grandson John Reynolds, acquired Herdade do Mouchão for wine production.

In 1901 the first vineyards were planted on the property and, in 1929, construction began on a traditional winery and distillery, which still produces Mouchão brandy today.

Today, Herdade do Mouchão continues to be managed and worked on by the descendants of the original family and the entire winemaking process remains virtually unchanged, preserving the traditional harvest by hand and the fermentation of the grapes in stone presses, using foot treading. It is these techniques and the entire success story of Herdade do Mouchão that makes this wine-growing company so close to what wines used to be like.

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Origin
Alentejo, Portugal

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Intense garnet color with aromas of spicy black fruit, plum jam, ripe olives and a underlying stemmy-minty hallmark. Wonderfully fresh and structured yet balanced and with exuberant tannins that guarantee its longevity.

Best served alongside roasts, game, or hearty casseroles.

This is considered the benchmark in Alicante Bouschet!

94 Points - Wine Advocate
One of two vintages I tasted of the eponymous red, the 2017 Mouchão was produced with 85% Alicante Bouschet and 15% Trincadeira. Compared to the 2016 tasted next to it, this 2017 has a paler color and a weaker nose and palate and is more advanced in general. It has character, elegance, rusticity, with something earthy and polished tannins, still a little dusty. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.5 and 6.1 grams of sugar. This comes from very low yielding vines, and it was foot trodden in lagar, matured in 5,000-liter oak vats for three to four years and was kept in bottle for another four years before being released. 

Product Size: 750ml