RCV Series Concept Bastardo

"Oh my God, this company is older than my country" - The US ambassador on a visit to Real Companhia Velha in the 1970’s.

Real Companhia Velha is the oldest wine company in Portugal, having recently celebrated 265 years of constant trading since 1756.

In the mid-18th century, there was a crisis with the port market due to a reduction of exports, extreme low prices & the situation being worsened by the fact the trade was dominated & controlled by British merchants.

With the support of a number of personalities including the King D. José I, the Portuguese Prime Minister Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Melo, aka the Marquis of Pombal, a decision was made to create a chartered company. Its aim was to break the monopoly of the English Trading Post, to balance supply & demand, to ensure the quality & authenticity of the product & to protect it from disloyal competition by wines from other parts of the kingdom. All of this with royal approval & it soon became one of the Portuguese state’s greatest sources of income. This was the origin of Real Companhia Velha.

Since 1960, Real Companhia Velha has been run by the Silva Reis family, who have dedicated their efforts to the production of both port & Douro wines, focusing on the study & development of the Douro terroir & sustainability.

The 3rd generation of the family has Pedro Silva Reis Junior as the resident winemaker, Pedro Silva Reis, his father, as the Master Blender (for over 40 years) & Tiago Silva Reis developing the market to show a company that combines innovation with tradition in the 5 Quinta’s they own, which are considered some of the best in the Douro Valley.

Series Range

The concept behind SÉRIES is limited release monovarietal wines with grapes selected from class A Douro field blends. With the main goal to be to highlight the quality and characteristics of lesser known Douro varietals…

The Series represent the passion for innovation and experimentation in the search for new wines and diverse styles of vinification. This effort reflects the backstage work developed by RCV winemaking and viticulture team, beginning in 2001, with the recovery and replantation of more than 30 indigenous grape varieties (some close to extinction). In the last 20 years, examples of these grape varietals were planted at our “Quintas”, in single blocks with no less than 1ha, allowing enough quantity for individual vinification with the purpose of bottling as experimental singles varietal wines.

Bastardo,

Bastardo, like Malvasia Preta, is planted at Quinta das Carvalhas with a south facing exposure. In comparison to other red grapes of the region, Bastardo is always the first to be picked as it is known for having a very short maturation cycle and is quite sensitive to rot when entering an overripening faze. RCV believe in this grape, not only for its good adaptability, but essentially for its strong varietal character with great expression on both nose and palate. The fermentation for this wine occurs in small stainless steel tanks with pellicular maceration, followed by an ageing period of 12 months in used French oak barriques.

Bastardo is a typical grape from the Douro Valley, also known in France as Trousseau. It is very well known in the Douro, not only for its constant presence in the Old Vines of the region, but for having a name which invokes something unwanted and controversial (The Bastard!). For RCV, Bastardo represents once more their passion for innovation and discovery, though this fabulously intense, elegant and fruitful red.

A very bright red, that impresses at first for its brick red colour which is quite unusual for a Douro Red. On the nose it reveals a very intense and complex fruity character with notes of wild berries, pomegranate and gooseberries. This wine is both intense and elegant, showing nobility and finesse, with round firm tannins and a long, lingering finish. This is almost like a savoury, mineral Beaujolais and offers immense adaptability for food pairing.

Drink with pheasant or game birds, wagyu beef, duck magret & reblochon cheese.