Text João Barbosa | Translation Bruno Ferreira

Straight or crooked lines? Modern or baroque architecture? Wine? I like them crooked, that means complexity. Such is the case of Foz Torto wines of Abílio Tavares da Silva. The winemaking is in charge of Sandra Tavares da Silva (they’re not relatives). (Torto = crooked)

In 2004 Abílio left his tech companies in Lisbon and settled in the Douro. In the next year he bought Quinta de Foz Torto, next to Pinhão (in the sub-region of Cima Corgo), with 14 hectares. The Torto river is a small river course, which starts in Trancoso and flows to just over 47.5 kilometers on the left bank of the Douro.

The Quinta is located at the mouth of that water serpent and it has been presenting itself to oenophiles since 2012. Naturally, the perspective’s escape point is close but the signs are positive: Abílio Tavares da Silva’s will demonstrates the goal to achieve a high quality level, a good location of the property and the expertise of Sandra Tavares da Silva.

Well, the Foz Torto were born straight. The most recent news are Foz Torto red 2013, Foz Torto Vinhas Velhas red 2013 and Foz Torto Vinhas Velhas white 2014. There’s an identity line and the mandatory differences, reflections of the will and nature.

The grapes used for the white wine come from another property upstream Douro located in Porrais (Murça), at the region boundaries. They come from field blends of which stand off the Códega de Larinho and Rabigato grape varieties.

The white grapes were smashed in pneumatic press. The fermentation took four weeks and it was made in French oak barrels where it aged for 6 months. It’s fine, elegant, seductive and has fake sweetness. It has strength but not brutality.

Foz Torto Vinhas Velhas white 2014 – Photo Provided by Foz Torto | All Rights Reserved

Foz Torto red 2013 – Photo Provided by Foz Torto | All Rights Reserved

Foz Torto Vinhas Velhas red 2013 – Photo Provided by Foz Torto | All Rights Reserved

Foz Torto red 2013 is the result of a blend of Touriga Nacional (40%), Touriga Franca (30%), Tinta Francisca (10%), Tinta Roriz (5%), Alicante Bouschet (5%), Sousão (5%) and Tinta Barroca (5%). The fermentation was made in vats for eight days. Then the wine aged for 16 months in oak barrels in 2nd and 3rd year oak barrels. It’s a wine that fills the mouth with a gluttony that does not satisfy nor sickens where the fruity wooden tempered aromas and flavors stand out.

Foz Torto Vinhas Velhas red 2013 is among the best of Douro where the term «old vines» means a few decades and the number of grape varieties is hard to count. In this case means more than 30 grape varities. The fermentation took eight days in vats. The malolactic fermentation and aging was made in oak barrels, 30% new and 70% old.

The technical sheet does not say it but I will… there’s predominance of Touriga Franca and not of Touriga Nacional. It’s the Douro’s if not the Portuguese’s big grape variety, which is only (or only almost) good when blended with others. This red has the land of schist and schist, the dryness of the rock rose and the scent of holm oak wood ash. Bulky, long, deep and persistent in the mouth. To drink now and after tomorrow. It’s the Douro inside a vial.