FROM THE WIRES...
Savor the gifts of the Douro Valley this spring with exquisite offerings from the acclaimed portfolio of Portugal’s Prats + Symington! The Post Scriptum de Chryseia 2021 (SRP $28) and Prazo de Roriz 2021 (SRP $18) are well-crafted red blends made to drink young, while offering a tasting experience ahead of their time.
Both wines are inspired by Prats + Symington’s celebrated Chryseia 2020 (SRP $102) whose name means "golden" in ancient Greek – as does the name of the Douro River in Portuguese. One of the pioneers of the now widely-recognized resurgence of dry table wines in the Douro, Prats + Symington offers the gold standard of these wines, perfect for gracing holiday tables!
Prats + Symington is a partnership between Symington Family Estates, one of Portugal's oldest Port producing families, and Bruno Prats, the former winemaker and owner of Chateau Cos d'Estournel in Bordeaux. Together they produce wines from only the finest grapes and favored estates in the Douro since their founding in 1999. The first Prats + Symington wine was 2000 Chryseia which received widespread acclaim. Powerful but elegant and balanced with depth and great finesse, Chryseia was recognized as a new style of red wine from the Douro. Since then Chryseia and its second wine, Post Scriptum, alongside Prats + Symington’s Prazo de Roriz, have been instrumental in driving forward the high-quality Douro red table wine evolution of the region.
Chryseia 2020 is the result of a rigorous selection of grapes from the exquisite Quinta de Roriz and Quinta da Perdiz, both owned by Prats + Symington. The estates are planted largely with Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, considered by the Prats and Symington families to be the varieties best suited to making outstanding Douro DOC wine. Quinta de Roriz, one of the oldest estates in Portugal, sits in a natural amphitheater on the banks of the Douro River. Its north-facing position along the Douro offers the benefits of cooler nights during the ripening season, which results in pronounced aromatic qualities in its wines. Quinta da Perdiz is a west-facing vineyard with long days of ample sunlight, giving the wine expressive and concentrated fruit. Challenging weather conditions in 2020 resulted in overall production being down throughout the region, but lower yields were compensated by quality.
Post Scriptum 2021, the sibling wine to Chryseia, shares its prized provenance. The hand picked grapes are a special blend of largely Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca with small amounts of Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca, Sousão and Tinta Cão. Every year, the best lots of wine are set down to age in new oak for 15 months. The top lots from that group become Chryseia, while Post Scriptum benefits from remaining lots, blended with wine designated for Post Scriptum aging in second-year oak. A signature of these wines is the use of 400L barrels as opposed to the traditional 225L, giving the wood less of an influence on the aging wine. Following a succession of very hot and dry years in the Douro, the 2021 growth cycle and harvest were some of the coolest in recent years. Moderate conditions encouraged slower, gradual maturations.
Prazo de Roriz 2021 is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Touriga Franca. Characterized by red fruit flavors, especially raspberries and cherries, this easy drinking, ready to enjoy wine also hails from Quinta da Perdiz and Quinta de Roriz, the latter which provides a distinctive minerality and peppery spice. Hand-picked grapes are manually sorted upon arrival at the Quinta de Roriz winery. Gentle macerations are favored in order to produce fresh and fruity wines, approachable from a young age while also retaining good aging potential.
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