Herdade do Mouchão is a family-run estate in Alentejo, still managed by descendants of the Reynolds family and known for its traditional methods, including hand harvesting and foot treading in open stone lagares. Dom Rafael is the estate’s entry-level red, produced from the same old-vine varieties and methods as its top bottlings.
- Farming: Practicing Organic
- Variety: Alicante Bouschet 40%, Aragonez 30%, Trincadeira 20%, Castelão 10%
- Terroir: Alentejo, Portugal. Alluvial and loam soils, with red, limestone-influenced and clay-skeletal soils in the estate’s Dourada, Barragem and Mouchão Velho vineyards. 215 m elevation, northeast aspect.
- Vinification: Hand-harvested whole clusters, foot-trodden in open stone lagares, with spontaneous fermentation of about eight days on the skins. Malolactic conversion, no fining, filtered, about 36 ppm added sulfur.
- Aging: 12 months in chestnut and Portuguese oak vats and French oak barriques, then 12 months in bottle.
- Tasting Notes: Dark, ripe and slightly brooding, with plum, mulberry and blackcurrant fruit, dark chocolate and mint-tinged spice. Medium-full, with fine-grained, abundant tannins, fresh acidity and a savoury, persistent finish.
- Food Pairings: Veal, lamb and roasted or slow-cooked meats, bacalhau, and fatty fish or petiscos.
- Scores: Decanter 92 (2022); Wine Advocate 90 (2022)