Prats and Symington Post Scriptum de Chryseia, Douro

Description

Prats and Symington Post Scriptum is a red wine produced in the Douro. It is the result of a partnership forged in 1999 between the Symington Family (owners of world famous Port houses Dow, Graham, Warre et al.) and Bruno Prats, previously wine maker at Cos D’Estournel, who has a vast wine-making experience working with top-growth Bordeaux wines. Prats and Symington is a stand alone company specialising in dry red wines which has been at the forefront of the DOC Douro quality revolution and instrumental in driving forward the high quality image of the region.

Prats and Symington Post Scriptum is the little brother to Prats and Symington Chryseia. Chryseia was first launched with the 2000 vintage and was joined two years later, in 2002, but Post Scriptum. It is made from lots of grapes that don’t make the final selection for Chryseia. They are sourced from the Prats and Symington owned Quinta da Perdiz and Quinta de Roriz estates in Cima Corgo. Both Quintas lie in the parish of São João de Pesqueira, near the village of Ervedosa. Quinta de Roriz sits in a natural amphitheatre on the banks of the Douro, and Quinta da Perdiz lies on a steep gradient on the other side of the same mountain in the Rio Torto Valley, which runs North-West into the main Douro Valley near Pinhão. The different microclimates of the two valleys produce very different results, as do the varying soils. Some grapes are also sourced from Symington’s Vila Velha. The dedicated Prats and Symington winery is located at Quinta de Roriz.

After harvest the grapes under a manual triage at sorting tables afterwhich the grapes are de-stemmed and gently crushed. The grapes are relayed to the fermentation vats by a gravity flow process, and once in the vats they are inoculated with a specially selected cultured yeast and fermented at 25c. Maceration is very gentle and aimed at producing a wine intended for early drinking. Finally, the wine is aged for 12 months in 400L second- and third-fill French oak barrels (including those from coopers including Taransaud, François Fréres, TSO e Boutes). Bottling takes place at Vila Nova de Gaia in a modern bottling centre owned by the Symington family.

Winemakers are Bruno Prats, Charles Symington, Pedro Correia and Miguel Bessa.

Post Scriptum 2022 is a blend of 50% Touriga Nacional, 40% Touriga Franca and 10% Tinta Roriz.