Quinta do Javali 'Crazy Javali' Tinto 2023

Quinta do Javali - Javali  means Wild Boar in Portuguese - is near San Joao de Pesqueira, on the steep left bank of the Douro River.  The Mendes family bought the Quinta in the 1980s, making a bit of wine for their own consumption but selling most of their grapes to Taylors for Port production.  In 2000 the next generation decided to make Port and wine under their own name.  When, in 2015, teenager Antionio Mendes asked his father why he never opened any Javali wines at family gatherings, his father admitted that he didn't really like the style of the wines they were making  . . .   

As a result of this awkward conversation they began practising organic farming, changed wine-making styles to reduce extraction and oak and purchased new parcels of vines better suited to making lighter, more elegant wines.  In 2023 aged only 24 years old,  Antiono took over the wine-making completely.  He is well travelled and wine-knowledgeable beyond his years (he admits to being slightly obsessed by our own Marc Soyard),  and this is reflected in his wine-making style - fun, experimental, yet clean and carefully considered.   

This is a field blend of old vines with the mains grapes being Tinta Barocca, Touriga Franca, and Tinta Roriz.  35% of the stems are retained and the juice is fermented in concrete then moved to large, oak barrels for ageing.   Supremely juicy.