2024 Quinta da Pedra Alta Pedra a Pedra Branco

DD Import
Quinta da Pedra Alta |Douro Valley |Rabigato
Discover white Douro with this fresh, textured blend of Portuguese grapes from Quinta da Pedra Alta’s highest vineyards.

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Sale price$29.00
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Sold out
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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)

The Douro might be famous for Port, but Pedra a Pedra Branco shows why its whites deserve attention too. It’s our starting point for Quinta da Pedra Alta, a historic estate making fresh, dry whites from Portuguese varieties grown on its highest slopes.

Here, Rabigato and Gouveio grow on schist soils at up to 520 metres. Rabigato supplies acidity and citrus flavours, while Gouveio adds weight, with the cool nights of 2024 helping preserve freshness.

Winemakers João Pires and Matt Gant pick early in the morning, press gently and ferment with wild yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel. Eight months on lees adds texture without the flavour or weight of oak.

Expect lemon, grapefruit and a little passionfruit, with a dry, salty finish. It’s just 11.5% alcohol, but there’s enough substance for grilled prawns, ceviche or goat’s cheese.

For anyone who wants a refreshing white with more texture than the usual crisp-and-simple styles, start here. Superb value.

91 points
”Very vertical and precise, it shows saline minerality, lemon pith and citrus peel alongside remarkable schist driven energy and freshness.”
- 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)

 

91 points - "A blend of 59% Rabigato and 41% Gouveio, combining the acidity and structure of the former with the aromatic lift of the latter, it is sourced mainly from the highest vineyards on the estate. This is whole bunch pressed directly into stainless steel and aged briefly on lees before bottling. Very vertical and precise, it shows saline minerality, lemon pith and citrus peel alongside remarkable schist driven energy and freshness." - Tim Atkin MW (Tim Atkin Portugal Report 2026)

REFRESHING / AROMATIC / TEXTURED

'Pedra a Pedra' Branco is a refreshing, aromatic, textured Douro white made from a blend of indigenous grape varieties from our highest vineyards.

VINTAGE: The year was marked by a rainy winter and a mild spring, favouring grape development. Cool summer nights with moderate temperatures helped preserve grape acidity. The harvest was a prolonged one, starting on August 21 with white grapes and ending on October 4 with reds, ensuring balanced ripening. The 2024 wines show great potential, with excellent aromatic intensity.

VINIFICATION:

Once the grapes are picked our aim throughout is to preserve the aromatics and fresh flavours by gentle handling, and by keeping the fruit and juice as cool as possible. Picked early in the morning the grapes are whole bunch pressed as soon as they arrive at the winery and the juice drained off immediately. The juice is then fermented by wild yeasts at 17ºC so that the wine maintains primary fruit aromas and flavours. Throughout the process minimal handling and attention to detail, ensure that the delicate aromatics are not compromised. Fermented to dryness, the wines were matured sur lie for 8 months before being blended. Each varietal wine brings unique attributes to the final blend. Rabigato brings citrus fruits and lively acidity, whilst Gouveio brings mid palate weight with passion fruit and pineapple flavours. Once blended the wine was bottled in May 2025.

COLOUR:
Pale yellow with green hues

AROMA:
Delicate aromas of citrus fruits, together with grapefruit and tropical notes

PALATE:
Bursting with citrus, passion fruit and pineapple flavours with great texture and a lingering salty finish

SERVING TEMPERATURE:
Serve at 10 to 12 degrees centigrade

FOOD SUGGESTIONS:
Sea bass ceviche, mango and prawn salad, fresh goat cheese, asparagus and prawn risotto, beetroot tartare

CELLARING
Drink now, but will gain further complexity over the next 5 years

Suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans

VITICULTURE





Grape Varieties (%)

59% Rabigato, 41% Gouveio

Soil Type

Schist

Vine Age

Between 20 and 31 years old

Vines per Ha

4000

Pruning Method

Single and double cordon and guyot

Altitude above sea Level

Between 380 and 520 metres asl

Yield

Average of 5 ton/hectare

Harvest Period

23rd to 31st August

Harvest Method

Hand picked

VINIFICATION





Winemaker

João Pires & Matt Gant

Fermentation

Wild ferments in stainless steel tanks with temperature control

Malolactic

None

Maturation

Sur lie in stainless steel tanks for 8 months

Fining & Filtration

Bentonite | 1 micron cartridge filtration

Bottling Date

May 2025

ANALYSIS





Alcohol (%)

11.5%

Residual Sugar (g/l)

0.6g/l

pH

3.09

Total Acidity (g/l)

6.8g/l

Total SO2 (mg/l)

57mg/l

Free SO2 (mg/l)

21mg/l

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type White
Body Light Bodied
Variety Rabigato
Country Portugal
Region Douro Valley
Critic Score 91
Alcohol 11.5%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
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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