QLAB is our playground for experimenting and having fun with friends who share our passion for winemaking. We started with single-varietals and now we’re working on some unexpected blends that allow our imaginations to run wild! We’ve had a blast creating them, and we hope you enjoy them just as much as we do. Cheers to the joy of winemaking!
TINTA AMARELA
A 100% Tinta Amarela red wine with a lower alcohol content. Crafted from grapes grown on the ancient vines of the Corgo banks, this wine captures the essence of the elegant and fresh notes of the Tinta Amarela variety. Experience the fresher and refined side of Douro with this exquisite red.
In the creation of this QLAB wine, we had fun exploring the possibilities of the Tinta Amarela grape. From selecting the grapes to vinification, we macerated them for 4 days to bring out the most floral, spicy, and fresh characteristics of the variety.
The outcome is a highly aromatic and low-alcohol wine that is perfect for a nice evening with friends.
FOLGASÃO
A wine made from the rare Folgasão grape variety, also known as Terrantez. Unfortunately, this grape is slowly disappearing from the Douro vineyards due to its susceptibility to powdery mildew fungus and a tendency to develop a reductive character during fermentation. However, in a bid to preserve this unique variety, our father, Oscar Quevedo, planted 2.5 hectares of Folgasão in 2016, which was the last plantation he oversaw as head of the company.
This QLAB was done with Tamás Ádám (friends call him Tomi) to create a single-varietal Folgasão wine. For this experiment we decided to do malolactic fermentation on part of the wine as well as age it for 5 months in Hungarian barrels (like Tomi!).
The result? A fresh aromatic white wine, creamy and full-bodied to share with the best company!
ORANGE WINE
Mother Nature must have been in a good mood when she handed us this batch of gorgeous Gouveio white grapes. We put them through a wild fermentation, and then decided to let them hang out with their skins for an extra 14 days. After that, we stowed them away in a cozy used oak barrel, and let them be for a whopping 7 months. What emerged was a wine that’s rich, perfumed, and bursting with personality.
It’s not for the faint of heart – this wine has a distinct palate that’ll make you think twice. But we like it that way – it keeps things interesting! We’re pretty sure time had a big hand in making this wine, so we’re just taking credit for letting it happen.
