Cortes de Cima is a family estate, with 100 hectares of vineyard, located near Vidigueira in the Alentejo region of Portugal, located midway between Lisbon, the Algarve and Sevilla. At Cortes de Cima, wines are made from selected grapes harvested separately by hand from their own vineyards and fermented and aged individually in small batched. At vintage, each vineyard is monitored and a decision is made as to the optimum time and order of harvesting each plot. The grapes are fermented without stems under temperature control, with frequent rack and return, followed by extended skin maceration to enhance varietal fruit characters and to provide tannin structure and balance. Most are further aged in oak barrels for 6 to 12 months, prior to being estate bottled, without filtration or fining.