Rightfully regarded as the “King of Portuguese vines”; the hardy Touriga Nacional with its small dark berried bunches, penchant for low-yields and fulsome tannins, enabling thoughtful winemakers the ability to craft powerfully elegant wines possessing incredible longevity. Touriga Nacional is the foundation of the finest fortifieds and some of the world’s most exciting wines coming out of Portugal. At Boplaas Touriga is lovingly used for crafting the finest Cape Vintage and Reserve “Ports”, as well as fine table wines.
First planted at Boplaas in the late 1980’s, Touriga Nacional made its way to African shores in the early 1970’s and this premier varietal accounts for approximately 103 hectares – a mere 0.1% of the total South African vineyard area.
Harvested by hand in the cool of the morning & fermented in temperature controlled open top cement ferementers – called kuipe in Afrikaans or lagars in Portugal – which manualpunch downs to gently coax optimum flavour and colour extraction from the grape skins, while maintaining the bold aromatics. The wine is barrel matured in 3rd and 4th fill French oak barrels for 10 months prior to bottling with a light filtration.