2022 Quinta da Pedra Alta Pedra a Pedra Tinto

90 pts DD Import
Quinta da Pedra Alta |Douro Valley |Touriga Nacional
Four Portuguese varieties from historic Douro terraces, blended into a fresh, approachable red that delivers excellent value.

Price:
Sale price$29.00
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In stock, ready to ship
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Description

"A new Douro star… Pedra Alta was a Quinta with an amazing history, and the potential for making serious table wines. It was massively undervalued. They were excited by the prospect of matching the amazing site with one of the best young winemakers around: João Pires."
- James Goode (Wine Anorak)

Pedra a Pedra Tinto is the perfect introduction into the wonderful world of Quinta da Pedra Alta. This historic Douro estate delivers plenty of red for the money, with the freshness and approachable style that make it easy to open any night of the week.

The fruit comes from schist terraces climbing to 500 metres, with Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca leading a blend of four Portuguese varieties. These are grapes best known to many drinkers through Port, but here they make a dry red at a moderate 13% alcohol.

Winemakers João Pires and Matt Gant combine traditional foot treading in granite vats with temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation. Gentle handling keeps tannin extraction in check, while maturation mostly in stainless steel, with a smaller portion in old oak, keeps the emphasis on fruit.

Cherry, plum and blueberry come with a little spice, smooth tannins and a gently chewy finish. Open it with any red meat dish, or slurp away on its own - it's a fresh, satisfying Douro red and phenomenal value.

90 points
”Juicy and approachable, it still offers the typical Douro structure and balance.”
- Tim Atkin MW (Tim Atkin Portugal Report 2026)

"We really want to show this place and interpret the fruit in that way... identity, freshness, and purity is the main thing."
- João Pires (Quinta da Pedra Alta Winemaker)

 

90 points - "Produced from a classic blend of local varieties in a hot, dry year, this red nonetheless retains impressive freshness thanks to moisture retaining soils and careful winemaking. Fermented using lagars, tanks and different vats, the wine is made entirely from whole berries with 30% ageing in large oak. Sour cherry, plum and raspberry fruit is supported by a creamy texture, sweet ripe tannins and vibrant acidity. Juicy and approachable, it still offers the typical Douro structure and balance." - Tim Atkin MW (Tim Atkin Portugal Report 2026)

16.5 points - "Mid crimson. Vibrant red and dark-red fruit, tangy sweet-sour cherry plus blueberry sweetness. Just packed with fruit. The tannins are just right to frame not overwhelm the fruit, firm but smooth, and plenty of freshness. Gently chewy finish calls for food." - Julia Harding MW (Jancis Robinson)

Matthew Jukes on the 2017 vintage - an old review but a great insight into this wine, the producer and of course Matthew Jukes' wonderful writing - "“A game-changing red from the Douro Valley. Matt Gant, the extraordinarily talented winemaker behind the First Drop wines from the Barossa Valley in South Australia, has weaved some magic with the wild, swarthy red grapes found in the Douro Valley in Portugal. He knew exactly how to give the grapes a polish and produce a wine gleaming and velvety smooth on the palate. Matt’s desire to avoid over-extraction, which often results in coarse, harsh flavours, and which is so much a signature of old-fashioned Douro reds, makes this wine a game-changer. Pedra A Pedra is, thankfully, not another in a long line of international, sweet-fruited, “vinonymous” reds. This sleek wine employs a variety of techniques depending on the fermentation vessel used. Foot treading is followed by gentle plunging in granite lagar fermenters, while open-topped stainless-steel tanks and picking bin ferments are simply plunged. Old French barriques and hogsheads bring subtle seasoning to the whole, and the wine is designed to sing of its unique ingredients – 50% touriga franca, 44% touriga nacional, 5% tinta barroca and 1% fernão pires. In short, Matt and his local counterpart, João Pires, have captured the essence of the Douro and given it a welcome makeover. At 13.5% alcohol and with stunning spice and luxurious fruit, this wine is unmissable and gives us a glimpse into the Douro’s future. It is keenly priced, too.”

90 points - "Dense and fruity, with berries, wafers and bark on the nose, following through to a medium body with chewy tannins. Structured and fruity at its core, with a similar finish. Drink or hold." - Kevin Davy (James Suckling)

APPROACHABLE / FRUIT-DRIVEN / STRUCTURED

'Pedra a Pedra' Tinto is an approachable, fruit driven, structured Douro red, made from a blend of indigenous grape varieties grown on the schist soils of our terraced vineyards.

VINTAGE: A very dry growing season, along with above average temperatures through the summer combined with very low yields to cause rapid ripening across the Douro. Nevertheless, at Quinta da Pedra Alta our elevation and better yields resulted in a more gradual ripening curve which allowed us to pick whites with full flavour and good acidity.

VINIFICATION:

Once the grapes are picked our aim throughout is to preserve the fruit flavours and avoid over-extraction by gentle handling. The grapes are handpicked, hand sorted, destemmed and fermented by wild yeasts at temperatures ranging from 20-25°C for 10 days on skins. The ferment is managed by a variety of techniques depending on the fermentation vessel used. Foot treading followed by gentle plunging is employed on granite lagar ferments, whilst open top stainless steel tank/picking bin ferments are simply plunged. At the end of the maceration the ferments are drained/pressed, and transferred to a combination of stainless steel tanks (80%) and old French oak barriques and hogsheads (20%) to undergo MLF. Post MLF, sulphur dioxide is added, and the wines mature sur lie for 18 months. Each varietal wine/parcel brings unique attributes to the final blend. Touriga Nacional brings a long textured palate with luscious red and blue fruits; Touriga Franca brings mid palate weight and structure with rich black fruits and meaty characters; Sousão brings deep colour and lively acidity and Tinta Barroca brings juicy, vibrant red fruits. This wine was bottled in December 2024.

COLOUR:
Ruby

AROMA:
Red and blue fruit with lifted aromatics and spice notes

PALATE:
Full flavoured, red, and blue fruited wine, with good structure, balanced acidity, and a long finish

SERVING TEMPERATURE:
Decant and serve at 16 to 18 degrees centigrade

FOOD SUGGESTIONS:
Steamed chilli mussels, cassoulet, BBQ sirloin steak

CELLARING
Drink now but will gain further complexity over the next 5 to 10 years.

Suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans

VITICULTURE





Grape Varieties (%)

Touriga Nacional (52%)
Touriga Franca (26%)
Sousão (12%)
Tinta Barroca (10%)

Soil Type

Schist

Vine Age

Between 16 and 26 years old

Vines per Ha

Average 3700

Pruning Method

Single and double cordon

Altitude above sea Level

Between 250 and 500 meters

Yield

Average of 4.2ton/ha

Harvest Period

1st September – 21st September

Harvest Method

Hand picked

VINIFICATION





Winemaker

João Pires & Matt Gant

Fermentation

Wild ferments in granite lagars and stainless steel tanks with temperature control - 10 days on skins

Malolactic

Yes

Maturation

Sur lie in stainless steel tanks (80%) and French oak barriques and hogsheads (20%) for 18 months

Fining & Filtration

No Fining | 1 micron cartridge filtration

Bottling Date

December 2024

ANALYSIS





Alcohol (%)

13.0 %

Residual Sugar (g/l)

0.6g/l

pH

3.66

Total Acidity (g/l)

5.4g/l

Total SO2 (mg/l)

75mg/l

Free SO2 (mg/l)

18mg/l

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Touriga Nacional
Country Portugal
Region Douro Valley
Reviewed By James Suckling
Critic Score 90
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2022
Closure Cork

Quinta da Pedra Alta

Quinta da Pedra Alta is a reinvigorated Douro label, and one of the most exciting producers in the region. This historic estate makes reds, whites and Ports from traditional local varieties, in a modern style all about freshness, balance and expression.

The property sits above the Pinhão River in the Douro’s Cima Corgo district. Its 35 hectares of terraced vineyards climb from 230 to 550 metres, with schist soils, different exposures and cooler upper slopes providing a broad range of fruit for blending.

Winemakers and great mates João Pires and Matt Gant bring local knowledge and an international perspective to the cellar. João is a highly regarded and experienced local winemaker, while Matt is an Englishman now based in Australia, where he founded First Drop Wines in the Barossa Valley and Gant & Co. in Margaret River. 

There’s serious history here, too. Three granite markers from the 18th-century demarcation of the Port region still stand on the property (the only remaining Douro producer containing three of these historic stones), while the terraces remain too steep for machine harvesting, making hand-picking a necessity.

Their focus is on the estate’s Portuguese varieties, including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Barocca for reds, and Rabigato, Gouveio and Viosinho for whites. The whites are a particular reason to explore, with fruit from the higher vineyards bringing freshness and texture, alongside the estate’s substantial reds and traditional Ports.

Historic Douro vineyards, native grape varieties and an experienced and talented winemaking team make Quinta da Pedra Alta a must-try modern Portugese producer.

The incredible Douro Valley Quinta da Pedra Alta

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