Quinta de la Rosa is a winery 2 kilometers outside of Pinhao, which is a stop for both the Douro river cruises and the Douro valley train. We can take weekend getaways up here with friends and family.
Concrete "stomping" vats are the tell-tale sign that you are in a Portugese winery. This one is more modern than most, they have a mechanical press to use in the vats in addition to the local laborers.
Relatively small scale compared to the big Alentejo wineries. It is still an impressively old operation.
The tasting was quite short and not terribly impressive: a white, a red, a tawny port and a ruby port.
2020 White (blend of unnamed varietals) - apricot aromas, pineapple and peach flavors with a good finish and mouthfeel = 89 pts.
2019 Quinta de la Rosa (the "flagship" red blend) - Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, and Sousao. Aromas of mustard and herbs, flavors of red raspberry, sour cherry, and orange rind with "sandy" tannins and bitter herbs in the finish. = 90 pts.
Tawny port - We were tasting in a tour group and I never got a good look at the bottle label so I don't have a year or age. Caramel color and "burnt sugar" flavor = not very good.
Vintage 2021 Ruby Port - aromas of grilled bell pepper and really big tannins with a flavor that is not so sweet as other ports. More like a concentrated wine than a fortified port.
The most famous wine of Quinta de la Rosa is Vinha Vale do Inferno, the "Valley of Hell," so named by the workers who had to hand carry the grapes up the extremely steep hillside in one of the hottest south-facing parts of the Douro valley. At 57.50 euro, it's one of the pricier Douro red blends. We met another couple from the US at lunch and we agreed to split a bottle in order to taste it.
It is a "field blend" of the grapes from this one specific vineyard, so it has a few different varietals, but mostly Touriga Nacional.
2015 Quinta de la Rosa Vinho Vale do Inferno - hints of orange blossom aromas with blackberry and sour cherry flavors, soft tannins and a good long finish. Even at this price I score it = 94 pts.
By the evening, we were back at our hotel for our last night in the Douro. Walking through the wisteria and watching the afternoon light fall on the Douro, we understand why this is a world class vacation destination.
Goodbye for now to the Douro, tomorrow we head north to Guimaraes.