Today we sowed our potatoes.
Here in the countryside, at this time of spring, we talk about nothing else. We compare the varieties, the quantities, how to prepare the terrain, and when to sow, before the Spring Equinox or after.
It seems that everybody walking past the Quinta has a little spring in their step. The whole of nature seems to wake up from a deep sleep and vibrates in tune. Did the birds get any louder or did we just get quieter?
In fact, the sheer power of spring every year surprises us: as the gardens and the vineyard start to explode with life, so do our bee colonies. This winter was very hard, the types of flowers we chose this season were also chosen with them in mind: borage, echinacea, dahlias, lavender, sunflowers … these organic flowers, without chemicals or pesticides, are wonderful for pollinators. Very soon the flower fields will be a true dance floor for the bees and they will produce the best quality of delicious organic honey.
But the subject that dominates around the Spring Equinox is, and always will be, the potato. And we hope this never changes…
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After some beautiful weather this March, Spring has well and truly arrived in all it’s blossoming glory, and at Quinta de Sant’Ana, we could’t be more relieved. The rain this winter has filled up our lake and stands us in good stead for the spring and summer ahead and for which we are very grateful, but these rays of sunshine are more than welcome!
As the easing of Lockdown measures continues, and coincides with nature’s hopeful season, we feel a relief – a ‘lightness of spirit’, a gathering of our energies for the year ahead and we hope, a lot more convívio – Portuguese ‘togetherness’. And so with it, our wine choice also moves away from the warming winter reds and embraces a lighter, more vibrant, pure, energising style.
We have put together 4 wines – two whites, two reds, of which two are Portuguese varietal wines, and two produced with our QSA take on two French classic vareties. All of these wines focus on their clarity of fruit, their vibrancy of acidity and they have a real ‘spring’ in their step. They see minimum time in oak, if any, and their fruit-driven style is at it’s most precise; delicate elderflower and crunchy asparagus in the Sauvignon Blanc, cherries, flint and fresh moist forest undergrowth in the Pinot Noir, a touch of floral and tropical in our bouncy Branco and juicy berries with pine and eucalyptus in our trusty Tinto.
In the spirit of sharing the joy of Spring, on purchasing our Spring pack, you will also receive a 10% dicsount if you book a wine tasting with us here at the Quinta before June 1st.
