Touriga Nacional

• FRUIT: Blackberry, Black Currants, Raspberries
• OTHER: Black Pepper, Licorice, Fresh Flower, Wood, Blackberry Seed
• OAK: Yes. Medium oak aging.
• TANNIN: High
• ACIDITY: Medium (-)
• Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 12 -15%

COMMON SYNONYMS: 

Bical Tinto, Mortágua, Mortágua Preto, Preto Mortágua, Touriga, Touriga Fina, Tourigao, Tourigo Antigo, Tourigo do Dão and Turiga

ABOUT THE GRAPE:

Touriga Nacional is a variety of red wine grape, considered by many to be Portugal's finest.

Texas grown Touriga Nacional is a rarity. Like other Portuguese and Spanish red varieties we feel this grape will be an important variety in our blending and Estate wine programs. Touriga is well suited to the Texas climate and, as wine growers, Touriga Nacional represents an important component in our wine making program. 

Touriga Nacional provides structure and body to wine, with high tannins and concentrated flavors of black fruit. Few would dispute that the Touriga Nacional is Portugal's finest red grape variety, deserving a place right up at the top of the world league of grapes, along with the likes of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo. Though Northern in origin, it has spread right across the country - you will find it down south in the Algarve and the Alentejo, out west in the Ribatejo/Tejo and Setúbal regions, successfully competing with the local Baga grape in Bairrada, and way out mid-Atlantic in the Azores. Touriga Nacional is a thick-skinned grape, and those skins are rich in color and tannins, giving excellent structure and ageing capacity. But it also has wonderful, intense flavors, at the same time floral and fruity - ripe blackcurrants, raspberries - with complex hints also of herbs and licorice. Yields are never high. The Dão and Douro regions both claim to be the origin of this fine grape.