Year 2014 will be for sure remembered as difficult and the resulting wines as very good examples of vintage wines with distinctive character. Mild winter, resulting in increased pressure of powdery and downy mildews, was followed by a summer with little sunshine and abundant rainfalls, being 262 millimeters above the annual average. Pleasing was that the eco-sprays fully proved their efficiency even under these extremely difficult circumstances, and we managed to protect the vineyards from serious damage. Portugieser, as a particularly finicky variety, suffered a lot from the September rains. Thorough sorting out of the damaged grapes during the harvest was necessary, as well as chaptalizing of the most to ensure stabilizing alcohol content in the wine. Ten percent of whole bunches were added to the mash in order to enhance the complexity and sensory riches of the resulting wine. The lightly sulfited mash fermented spontaneously without inoculation with commercial yeasts. The young wine remained in skin contact for further 26 days and pleased us with fresh and clean taste. After twelve months in old oak barrels the wine was blended, filtered and elevated for further six months in a stainless steel vessel before bottling.

Resulting is a light and fresh Portugieser with crisp acidity and delicate body. Despite of the challenging and rainy 2014 vintage it is lacking neither harmony nor pride. An ideal companion to joyful eating and sipping with friends.