Quinta de Vale de Pios
Joaquim is a one man team planting, tending to, harvesting, and vinifying the wines in his small cellar near the Spanish border. Barca d’Alva is the closest village nearby and also serves as the last stop on the Douro River before it becomes the Duero in neighboring Arribes DO. This region is particularly dry-only 6 inches of rain per year give this essentially desert climate the ability to grow only grapes, olives, and almonds. The soil is a veritable mosaic of broken quartz, granite, shale, and a subsoil of vertical black schist. Temperatures peak well over 105 degrees daily in the summer, but the night time temperatures drop to the upper 50s and provide a great level of freshness and acidity to the grapes.
