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Sintra Port Wine – Coming Soon

 

Grinder's Switch Sintra Port LabelOur owner and winemaker, Joey Chessor has been dreaming of his own port-style wine since the mid-90s. Joey was inspired by two family trips to Portugal where he sampled not only fine wines but also amazing vintages of traditional port. Then, when planning his vineyard, Joey became one of only two winemaker’s in Tennessee to include Touriga Nacional, a premier Portugese port grape, in his vineyard. At first, Joey simply turned each year’s harvest of Touriga into one of Grinder’s Switch’s most popular dry red wines, Rebel, but in 2015 all that changed. Fortune bestowed upon the winery a barrel of high quality brandy, a hard to find spirit in Tennessee and one that involves lots of red tape should you want to bring some across state lines. The wine gods also granted Grinder’s Switch Winery with an excellent vintage of Touriga Nacional that year. It was a perfect storm to make an exceptional port-style wine. So for 3 years we have been waiting for this amazing vintage to finish, and the time has finally come.

So, what is port?

Port is fortified wine, which means that at some point during fermentation some kind of grape based spirit (usually brandy) is added to the wine. This allows the wine to retain some of its natural sweetness. Port originates from Portugal where one of the premier port grapes grown in that region is Touriga Nacional. The best ports are known for their complexity and body and are traditionally served at the end of a meal as a dessert with a plate of fine cheeses or with a fine cigar.

2015 Sintra

Our 2015 port-style wine, Sintra, is named after one of the Chessor family’s favorite areas of Portugal which they visited a couple of times in the mid-90’s. Sintra promises to be a sweet, full-bodied barrel aged vintage with wonderful notes of toffee and chocolate. It has a pleasant, oaky tone that complements the caramel finish.

Be the first to experience Sintra!

This vintage is limited. We only have 3 barrels (that’s about 180 gallons) of Sintra to sell and it won’t be available until early Summer 2018. And because this vintage is very special, the price per bottle will reflect the quality of our first vintage of port-style wine.

Our release party for our very first vintage of Sintra has been scheduled for July 21st and 22nd. Please head over to our reservations page to purchase your tickets! Ticket proceeds will be donated to Women Are Safe Domestic Violence Shelter.