Susana Esteban a Centenária Tinto 2022a Centenária Tinto 2022

Susana Esteban A Centenária Tinto 2022 is a top red from the Alentejo, specifically the Serra de São Mamede, known for its freshness and elegance — qualities that set it apart from the warmer, fuller style typical of the region.

The Wine Advocate
RP 94

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

"A Centenária" was first produced in 2021 from a century-old field-blend vineyard in the Serra de São Mamede. The 2022 A Centenária fermented in an open stainless steel lagar and matured in used barrels for eight months. Susana wanted to preserve the purity of these old vines surrounded by forest, with the freshness of plants and flowers and no interference from oak. It is very perfumed and floral, with notes of pine needles and aromatic herbs. It has very good freshness, texture and fine tannins from the granite soils. The area's typical field blend includes Trincadeira Preta, Aragonez, Grand Noir and Alicante Bouschet, among others, with fewer varieties than in the whites. It has 13% alcohol and a pH of 3.72 with 5.6 grams of acidity. Medium-bodied, delicate, elegant and balanced, fresh and refined, with the delicacy and detail of old vines. 3,900 bottles were produced. It was bottled in June 2023.

Susana Esteban is a Galician winemaker who built her career in Portugal — at Quinta do Côtto and Quinta do Crasto in the Douro, and later in the Alentejo, where she consults for several producers and has run her own project since 2011. She produces 35,000 to 40,000 bottles a year. Every year she collaborates with another winemaker or wine personality on a wine called Sidecar, the last two being with Champagne grower Emmanuel Lassaigne and Galician distributor José Luis Aragunde of Ribeira de Fefiñáns.

She works in the Portalegre area, a cooler, higher part of the Alentejo where ripening is slower and harvest later than in the south of the region. She works with rented vineyards and buys grapes, but has acquired a property in Alegrete where she has planted five hectares, 60% red and 40% white varieties, which will complement her current portfolio in future.

Published: 4 April 2024