Only in Portugal would a vineyard of 60-80 year-old vines not be considered an estate's oldest vines. But Antonio Madeira, a Frenchman with Portuguese roots and a habit of speaking to the oldest inhabitants of various villages, has been able to acquire fruit from a parcel of vines planted well over a century ago.

A land of unique, indigenous grapes, Portuguese vineyards have traditionally been collected and blended into one wine, a field blend often including dozens of varieties. There are two great joys to drinking Portuguese wines. First, the country's best winemakers remain committed to traditional varieties and, with nary a Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay in sight, the wines are unlike anything else the wine world has to offer. Second, many of the best plots were planted by today's winemakers' parents or grandparents, ensuring tons of concentration and intensity.

What importer Polaner Selections has to say about this wine...

Vineyard
This is a single vineyard planted in the XIXth century with more than a 130 years of age. There are at least 40 different varieties in the vineyard but the main one is very old clones of Jaen (Mencia in Spain). The vineyard is about 0.2 h.
Soil
Granite
Viticulture
biodynamic, all work is done by hand.
Vinification
Hand harvest into small baskets with first sort at harvest. The grapes are destemmed and pressed and undergo a prefermentative cold maceration for 4-5 days to gain aromatics. This is done in small tanks or plastic vats. The musts are then allowed to warm up and native yeast fermentation begins. Hand punch downs 1 per day for the 12-14 day fermentation.
Aging
The wine is aged in used French oak 400, 500 or 600L barrels for 2 winters to naturally stabalize and clarify the wines.