A wine with approachable complexity and elegant rusticity. A blend of Aragonês (Tempranillo), Trincadeira, Castelão and Alicante Bouschet, that smartly leverages each variety. Crunchy plum and mulberry fruit with a delicious seam of coffee beans and dark chocolate. Deft integration of both wood and alcohol. Pleasant grip, at once zesty and savoury.
90 Luis Gutierrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The red 2022 Rafael Tinto has notes of tomato vine, sweet spices and berry jam. Produced with a blend of 40% Alicante Bouschet, 30% Aragonez, 20% Trincadeira and 10% Castelão, it was foot trodden in lagar, went through malolactic and had one year of élevage in 5,000-liter oak vats and used French barriques. It comes in at 14% alcohol and is fruit-driven, with a juicy and chewy palate and abundant tannins. It is bright and chewy.
Product Description:
"Born in the ancient vineyards of the Aragonêz, Trincadeira, Castelão and Alicante Bouschet grape varieties, the grapes for this wine are harvested and selected by hand, foot-trodden, and fermented in the open stone lagares of the winery – precisely the same methods used for over a hundred years at Herdade do Mouchão, making Dom Rafael one of the most famous red wines in the region.
Dom Rafael red wine is aged in chestnut and Portuguese oak casks and in French oak barrels for 12 months, after which it ages for another 12 months in the bottle."- Winery
