Quinta do Infantado 2021 Douro "Palhete"

75% native red varieties/25% white varieties. From a single hectare of 40-year-old vines, a field blend of red and white varieties, planted at almost 2000 feet in elevation on a schistous, north-facing hillside in the Douro. The bunches are co-harvested by hand and partly destemmed. The mix of berries and whole clusters macerates just long enough to take on a clear, pale red color. Fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tank, where the wine is also aged on its fine lees for 11 months, followed by a year in bottle. Having little exposure to air, the wine has a natural, very gentle, desirable spritz to it just upon opening. "Palhete" is Portuguese for the British term "claret" (from the French "clairet" originally), historically applied to the very pale, not-quite-red wines of Bordeaux wines way back in the 14th-15th centuries. In the bottle, Palhete references this fresh, very light style of wine, in Portugal's case achieved through a co-fermentation and short maceration of white and red varieties. 170-case production.