Text Sarah Ahmed

Filmed in six countries over two years, the American documentary “Somm” follows four would-be Master Sommeliers as they endeavour to pass the “massively intimidating” Master Sommelier Exam and join the Court of Master Sommeliers – “one of the world’s most prestigious, secretive, and exclusive organizations”.  A member of the Court of Master Sommeliers since 2009, Lisbon-born João Pires has enjoyed an illustrious international career, latterly in London at two star Michelin restaurant London’s “Dinner by Heston“.  Currently taking time out with his baby daughter, I caught up with Pires who reflected on what it takes to get to the top.

João Pires – Photo provided by João Pires | All Rights Reserved

1. A sommelier has been described as the bridge between the chef and the winemaker.  Do you agree?
Not really! A sommelier is the bridge between the winemaker and the guest.

2. In your opinion what qualities make a great sommelier? 
A great sommelier is one who understands that, above everything, it is the guest that counts and not his own pride.

3. And what makes a great wine list?
A great wine list is the one which sells. If it sells it is because it is guest- orientated and therefore the guests buy. It is definitely not the list designed for awards although some good awarded wine lists are very good. But not the other way around!

4. Ordering wine can be intimidating, especially when the wine list is huge.  How can diners get the best out of a sommelier?
Speak with the sommelier, challenge him. I have seen small, straightforward wine lists where one can hardly buy anything and I’ve seen 1000 bin and bigger wine lists which guests can easily go through if well guided by a good sommelier. It is not the size but the engineering of the wine list that counts (and the sommelier of course).

5. What is your approach to food and wine matching?
Understand the weight of the food, be guided by the main colour of the dish, acidity balance is the key. Understand the occasion and respect guests’ budget.

6. Have you ever encountered a dish which has defeated you in terms of coming up with a satisfactory wine match?
Oh yeah many times and sometimes it is almost impossible to find the wine which we think is the right match. Well in a table of four people there are at least four possible wine matching right? And which wine to go with a 6 cheese board from light goat to old and hard cheddar or salty blue cheese? And how to match a Chinese dinner for instance when they share so many different foods at the same time? The wine world needs to understand that food & wine matching is not always possible.

7. Is food and wine matching necessarily a compromise; do you welcome the trend towards more wines by the glass and tasting menus?
Yes I agree and by the glass is a good solution. But if a bottle has been ordered try to recommend anything ‘right in the middle’ like a Pinot Noir to go around the table if there is a fish and meat order for instance.

8. Carte blanche, what would you order (wine/food) for your last supper?
Champagne, more champagne and why not fresh oysters by the sea?

9. Celebrity chefs have transformed luxury hotel dining.  What is more important, the culture of the chef or the culture of the hotel or are they symbiotic.
Both are important and they collide so many times, not an easy one to manage. Chefs are good ‘restaurateurs’ and hotels boast good ‘management skills’.

10. Luxury hotels have an international client-base and you yourself are widely travelled having trained in Paris, worked the floor in Portugal, Toronto and London and trained sommeliers in Macau, Morocco and the Philipines.  What cultural (international) differences in wine consumption have stood out to you?
Working in a high profile three Michelin star restaurant in Paris is something you can never forget. The pressure and attention to detail is such that it is almost insane. In terms of wine consumption French wines dominate with the exception of those countries where wine is part of the culture, such as Italy, Spain or Portugal where people, understandably, drink local wines.

João Pires – Photo provided by João Pires | All Rights Reserved

11. The American critic Robert Parker recently railed against a perceived fashion for obscure grapes on wine lists.  How important is it to introduce diners to new wine experiences and how easy is it to persuade high rollers not to order the predictably prestigious?
Who is Robert Parker? And what is the meaning of ‘obscure’? Anyway, more and more ABC (anything but Chardonnay or Cabernet) is over. Why not persuade high rollers with top prestige wines? We run a business and on my side there is nothing wrong to order and drink a DRC (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti), Château Pétrus or Champagne Salon. A shame I cannot do it myself on a regularly basis. Although on the other side less known grape varieties and different tastes at good prices is a paramount consideration because people are more open- minded than ever and keen on different tastes.

12. Port and Madeira are de rigueur on a classical wine list yet, outside Portugal, Portuguese table wines have struggled to make their mark.  This is starting to change.  What do Portuguese producers need to do to challenge this state of affairs?  
Well first of all Port and Madeira are not (unfortunately) de rigueur on a classical wine list and in this country they do not sell. But unfortified Portuguese wines are step by step coming up. It will take time for them to feature on top wine lists but things are getting better. Portuguese producers need to get together (some are already doing that and with huge success).

13. Which Portuguese regions, grapes, wine styles and producers stand out for you?
I must say there are good wines all over the country and better than ever. You can buy really good quality wines between 3 and 10 euros in Portugal which is quite difficult in UK supermarkets. Personally I love the Douro, Dão and Bairrada for reds and Alvarinho for white. But, having said that, one can find great wines in the Alentejo, Lisboa and other regions.

14. You have an enviable curriculum vitae.  Which of your professional accomplishments makes you most proud?
Becoming a Master Sommelier.

15. With even fewer Master Sommeliers than there are Masters of Wine (219 versus 313), it is notoriously hard to become a member of the Court of Master Sommeliers.  Why would you recommend it to others?
I’m not sure I’d recommend it.  It is so demanding and you sacrifice so many things in your personal life that it is hard to say go for it. But despite this you learn a lot and it is very rewarding indeed.

16. What impact does it have on a sommelier working in a one, two and three Michelin star restaurant? 
A huge impact. There is nothing more serious than wine for revenue and high service standards. And the higher the rank the more demanding and difficult it is. Very stressful but extremely rewarding (and I am not talking about wages)!

17. Which experience taught you the most and/or who has most influenced your career?
The European Sommelier Contest in 1994 which was sponsored at that time by Ruinart Champagne. I was representing Portugal and that was the moment I decided to dedicate my life to wine seriously. And my first stage in Paris in 1996 at the 2 Michelin-starred restaurant ‘Les Amassadeurs’, Hotel Crillon. I was blown away with the sommeliers and the chef sommelier Frederic Lebel.

18. How does it feel to have left the floor?  What do you miss most?  And what do you least miss?
I am feeling great after 25 years doing that. I must say I don’t really miss it a lot.  What I do miss is the daily exercise and, most of all, my guests.

19. What next?
Good question but I cannot tell you right now. I am enjoying my little 4 month old baby girl Isabella.  I have been feeling extremely happy and blessed.

Text Sarah Ahmed

Tiago Teles was born in Paris and caught the wine bug in France while studying Telecommunications in Toulouse under the Erasmus student exchange programme (Teles’ parents returned to Portugal when he was two years’ old).

Realising, he says, “how extraordinary wine could be,” the experience profoundly changed his perception of wine. Brought up on relatively simple wines like those from his mother’s and father’s family estates in Vinho Verde and Bairrada Teles explains that, before going to France, he had seen wine as no more than something “naturally present in the diet…something nutritive.”

Following his Erasmus course Teles returned to Portugal. Tastings at his local wine shop in Campo de Ourique – “a special old wine shop” – piqued his interest in wine yet further. In fact it wasn’t long before Teles combined his technical skills with his passion for wine, co-founding the online wine forum Os5às8.

Tiago Teles @ Vineyard – Photo provided by Tiago Teles | All Rights Reserved

Between 2002 and 2006 Os5às8 allowed him to practise and consolidate his skills as a wine critic. He also co-authored four editions of an annual wine guide. Next, Teles co-founded the website NovaCrítica-vinho for whom he acted as wine critic between 2007 and 2009 and co-authored the guide ‘Portal Portugal Guia de Vinhos Portugueses e Estrangeiros’ 2008 and 2009.

Where he describes wine tasting as “an unceasing search for the balance between ‘us’ and life experience,” it was perhaps inevitable that Teles’ next step was himself to produce wine. Together with his father, a co-investor, the self-taught wine writer/would-be producer embarked on a voyage of discovery which involved touring vineyards for several years and culminated in Gilda, a red wine. Gilda is named after the wooden boat depicted on the label which Teles’ grandfather built and named after his wife.

During these travels Teles says “we observed and tasted numerous wine styles and varieties” adding, “I had really to become mature and humble concerning wine, tasting a lot, observing, getting free from the human desire to control and discipline the nature of wine,” not least where “wines without nature are the least inspiring.” Teles’ wines are made with indigenous yeasts, no enzymes, acidification, filtering or clarification, so as not to “distort” the wine.

Tiago Teles @ Winery – Photo provided by Tiago Teles | All Rights Reserved

Of course it is impossible wholly to escape the desire to control and discipline the nature of wine because human beings necessarily shape the concept or style of the wine. For Teles and his father the concept is “to produce good wine, with popular character… wines should be drunk by anyone” and “to transmit the simplicity of wine created for its historical purpose, which is to refresh and accompany meals at any moment and place.” “[M]aking expensive wines is not an objective,” asserts Teles; in Portugal Gilda is sold for 9€.

As for what he means by “good wine,” Teles defines it as elegant, digestible, pure wine. According to him, grape varieties are less important, indeed “not relevant.” Rather he is convinced that the best way to express locality is through balanced alcohols and smooth extractions “otherwise sugar will just remove the mineral and vegetal expression.”

It is a provocative statement when his wine is produced in a region which has seen no little controversy over which grapes varieties get the official seal of approval and can use the Bairrada indication of origin. Teles points out “Bairrada is a region not a grape” and maintains “grape varieties, whatever they are, should drive the local,” namely “transmit exactly the limestone and cool profile of Bairrada.”

Gilda – Photo provided by Tiago Teles | All Rights Reserved

Although he is a fan of old vine Baga (Bairrada’s traditional red variety) in his opinion “due to its soil diversity and Atlantic influence, Bairrada is typically a region that benefits from blends and is also suitable for early ripening grapes.” Which is why he is “quite happy” with the Merlot which he sourced from the heart of Bairrada and blended with Castelão and Tinto Cão for the first 2012 vintage of Gilda. As he puts it “we respect people that planted Baga 80 years ago and we respect people that planted Merlot 25 years ago. Different contexts, different convictions. But surely a good legacy for Bairrada.”

So it’s curious then that Gilda is not labelled Bairrada but rather Vinho de Portugal? Teles admits that he was afraid, on the one hand, to disappoint fans of Bairrada’s traditionally robust (Baga-driven) styles and, on the other, alienate people searching for his preferred (elegant, digestible) style. However, in 2013 he shall have the courage of his convictions and Gilda (in this vintage a blend of Merlot, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão) will be labelled Bairrada. Plans are also afoot to recover an old property in the Vinho Verde region belonging to Teles’ mother and make a white wine. And so the voyage continues.

Contacts
Tiago Teles Vinhos de Portugal
Campolargo 3780-180 S. Mateus – S. Lourenço do Bairro – Portugal
Email: tiagoteles@outlook.pt
Site: www.tiago-teles.pt

Text Sarah Ahmed

When it comes to winemaking, outside the Port trade the Anglo-Portuguese alliance seems to revolve around the name Richard. Take the Richardsons of Mouchão and Sir Cliff Richard of Adega do Cantor.

The latest Brit to continue in this tradition is wine writer Richard Mayson, who has published several books about Portuguese wine, Port and Madeira. Not content with marrying into the Blandy family of Madeira fame, he acquired his own estate – Quinta do Centro – in 2005 in the Portalegre subregion of Alentejo (what is it about wine writers and Portalegre?!?).

The wines are made in partnership with well known winemaker and consultant Rui Reguinga under a telling brand name – Sonho Lusitano (‘Lusitanian Dream’). I asked Mayson about living the dream in this second of three features about wine writers making wine in Portugal. Next up, Tiago Teles.

Horse Sculpture – Photo provided by Richard Mayson | All Rights Reserved

How did you first become interested in wine?

In Portugal: my family were textile manufacturers and had business connections there. Holidays and business trips were often combined. My parents had a house in Portugal and introduced me to wine at a fairly early age.

When did you get bitten by the wine bug – when did it become a serious hobby?

My first job bit me with the wine bug. I had just left school, aged 18, and I was enjoying a gap year in Portugal when I found a job in a restaurant. The owners put me in charge of the wine list, really just making sure that the cellar was stocked with wines on the list and re-ordering. But I recall thinking that this is a really interesting subject and went up to Lisbon to buy some books on wine which I read on the beach on my afternoons off. During the winter months I began visiting vineyards and, through some business contacts of my parents I was invited to lunch by Jorge Ferreira of the eponymous Port shipper. It was 24th March 1980 and I recall thinking ‘this is the life’ The bug had bitten!

What led you to a career in wine writing?

While I was at University I had to write a dissertation as part of my degree. Using the contacts I had made in Portugal during my gap year I spent July/August 1982 researching the micro-climate of vineyards in the Douro. With our family textile business having just made a large number of redundancies in the recession of the early 1980s there was no job for me so I decided to apply for jobs in the wine trade. I was lucky to be taken on by The Wine Society where one of my tasks was copy writing, both offers and tasting notes to include in mixed cases. But I always had an idea that I wanted to write a book on Portuguese wines and, with family business commitments pressing, when the opportunity came up in 1989 I left the Wine Society to become a freelance wine writer. Portugal’s Wines and Wine Makers was published in 1992 by Ebury Press.

In your writing, which wines have most inspired you and why?

The answer has to be the Douro, and specifically I think Twenty Year Old Tawny Port. There is something truly magical and mysterious about the mellifluous balance and poise of these wines which are not based on a single year or vintage. I suppose I was also similarly inspired by Sherry (having had an extended visit to Jerez on winning the Vintner’s Scholarship in 1987) and then Madeira having visited the island for the first time in 1990.

In your writing, which wines least inspired you and why?

That is a very challenging question to answer as I am interested in all wines. However I am least inspired by some of the big brands and the commodity wines sold at key price points by supermarkets. In fact I find most of these ‘better than half price’ offers depressing.

Photo provided by Richard Mayson | All Rights Reserved

Has the answer to either of the above questions changed since you have started to make wine yourself?

No, I think making wines yourself merely entrenches your opinions. As a wine producer it is frustrating to see consumers fobbed off with poor wine, sometimes at a high price and you often think ‘I can do so much better than that’!

What motivated you to make your own wine? Was there a particular trigger?

I always had it in the back of my mind to put my money where my mouth is. I had been writing for years about how much potential Portugal had/has as a wine making country and I wanted to show it for myself. There is some satisfaction in poacher turning gamekeeper.

Given your specialism in Port, Madeira and Douro wines, why Alentejo?

Two main reasons: the Douro is a complicated place and, by the time I had got round to making a move, it was increasingly crowded with players many of them making excellent wines. Plus the fact that real estate prices had lost touch with reality. My Alentejo isn’t just any Alentejo but a corner of Portugal that I have had my eye on for years. First the Portalegre region is spectacularly beautiful and more like the north of Portugal than the south with smallholdings on granite and schist mountains. It has a fabulous terroir and I wanted to prove that and put the place on the map.

Once you decided to make your own wine, how long did it take until you made your first wine?

How long is a piece of string? It took me quite a long time to find the right place and you never quite know if you are going to do it until you find the right spot. I suppose it took me five years or so from starting to look seriously to producing our first wine in 2005.

What was your vision for your wine and has this changed in any way? 

I half-jokingly said when I embarked on this project that I wanted to be the ‘Petrus of Portugal’! I do now realise that to be Petrus (or for that matter any other great iconic wine) you have to strive for and achieve perfection at all levels. Perfection only comes at an enormous cost, both financial and emotional, and as a result most wines are a compromise, shaped for the market. I do believe that we have the natural conditions in the Serra de São Mamede to make truly fine, world-class wine but that it takes time to get there and the price you get for all your hard work depends on what the market will accept. Buying a vineyard and making and selling your first wines brings a strong dose of practicality into your initial dream. Doing it during one of the most severe financial crises in history only serves to test your dream further.

From the outset did you have a strong idea of who would be most likely to buy and enjoy it and is this important?

Yes, I always planned to make three different red wines. Starting with one wine, Pedra Basta, in 2005 we got to three (Duas Pedras and Pedra e Alma) in 2009. Before we launched our first wine Pedra Basta in 2007 we tested the market to make sure that we were well into the right price / quality category both in Portugal and, more importantly, internationally. Getting the name and image of your wine right is also very important if you are going to target a specific market. Basically we knew our market and we continue to target it even though that target keeps moving.

Richard Mayson – Photo provided by Richard Mayson | All Rights Reserved

How involved in the grape growing, wine making, branding/packaging and marketing process are you? 

I tried at the outset to get involved at all levels but, with three young children at home and other jobs to do this isn’t possible. However I like to know what is going on and take the strategic decisions in the vineyard, over blending the lots and certainly over branding/packaging and marketing. I am very lucky to have an excellent and trustworthy team, including an excellent wine maker in Rui Reguinga who is also my business partner. We think along the same lines and like the same sort of wines, so that helps!

Did you have any winemaking experience or undertake any winemaking studies before making your own wine? 

I have spent a life in wine which included working at a number of wineries both in Portugal and Australia so I knew what I was getting into. But do I have a formal qualification? No. I wouldn’t trust myself to be responsible for a vintage on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis but I know what is going on.

Do you have a mentor or a wine hero who inspires you?

That’s a hard one to answer because I have so many good friends in the wine business whose influence has rubbed off on me over the years. To name just a few I would say Rick Kinzbrunner at Giaconda in Victoria, Australia, the Roquette family at Quinta do Crasto in the Douro in the Douro and Dirk Niepoort who has reinvented his family business over the past twenty five years.

How has your experience as a wine writer informed the style of wine you make, the region and/or varieties from which you source grapes and how you brand and market your wines?

I would say being a wine writer has had an influence at every level. You see so much of the wine world as a wine writer; the great, the good and bad and the ugly. This means you form pretty clear views as to what works for you. Obviously, in terms of style, first and foremost you have to respect the terroir. I used to be a terroir sceptic but now I am a terroir fanatic. We source our grapes from my own vineyard so our wines are site specific. The grapes that I have are partly those that have a historical track record of doing well in our area but also those that I like and have a hunch for, like Syrah and Touriga Nacional. Much as I love it as a variety, I wouldn’t plant Pinot Noir in Portalegre any more than I would plant Syrah in Sheffield! Although our wines are from a single estate, Quinta do Centro, I decided early on to brand our wines based on the local terroir rather than follow others down the much repeated single-estate route. ‘Stone’ (Pedra) is our common theme and it reflects my belief in our predominantly granite terroir.

Writing about wine provides you with an insight into the process, the market etc but has making your own wine involved any unexpected challenges/difficulties? If so, what are they?

Yes, there are times when the dream becomes a nightmare, especially when things go wrong in the middle of vintage when everyone is working to their maximum and is fairly tense. I did spend one vintage knee deep in effluent when the sewage plant failed to work. You don’t think of these things when you are tasting wine but to make good wine you need plenty of water and it has to go somewhere.

Winery – Photo provided by Richard Mayson | All Rights Reserved

Conversely, has making your own wine surpassed your expectations in any way? Are there any aspects of the process which you find particularly enjoyable?

I love it all (part from the sewage obviously) but I think that marketing and selling our wine has given me more satisfaction than I expected.

Has being involved in the production process changed your perspective about the world of wine in any way?

Yes, I would say that producing wine has changed the way I think about just about everything to do with wine. As a wine writer you are on the receiving end of a lot of generous hospitality and you don’t often see the commercial angst that goes into winemaking at almost every level. Wine regulation is particularly frustrating.

Are you happy with your range – in terms of the wine itself (does it match your vision), the sales, the price point? 

Yes, I am very a happy with our range. Pedra Basta is our principal wine and sells in the UK for around £12.50 with Duas Pedras at £8.50 and Pedra e Alma at around £20.00. I believe that all our wines offer good value for money and that is important. You need to believe in your products.

What next (any plans to expand the range)?

Possibly a white Pedra Basta, possibly a rosé. It is always under discussion.

What is the most exciting thing happening with Portuguese wine today?

I think white wines have proved and are proving incredibly exciting in Portugal. Plus I like the rehabilitation of the Baga grape that is taking place.

Wine is a luxury, not a necessity – what makes it worthwhile and what is the minimum amount consumers should expect to pay for a quality interesting wine?

Variety is the spice of life and there is nothing more varied than wine, its style, character, history and packaging. Just look at the average supermarket range. You certainly don’t get anything like the variation with orange juice or baked beans! How much consumers should pay depends on the market but in the UK with so much of the cost of wine being fixed in the form of duty and overheads I would say £7.50 as a rule of thumb, remembering all the time that the more you pay, the more wine you are getting for your money.

Pedra Basta – Photo provided by Richard Mayson | All Rights Reserved

There is so much competition for shelf space – why should retailers and consumers pick Portugal?

Portugal has rediscovered its terroir over the past twenty years and is a very exciting place to be. Within Portugal there is a huge spectrum of wines, red, white and fortified, more I would dare to say than from any other country of a comparable size. Portugal offers a unique range of flavours from fascinating grapes as well as great value for money. Anyone with a genuine interest in wine should take more than a passing interest in Portugal. It may not be the easiest country to understand but it pays huge rewards for those who make the time and effort.

And why should they pick one of your wines? What’s the story?

Pedra Basta 2010. This is the wine I have always wanted to make. We have just released the 2010 vintage and despite it being a rather difficult year, Rui Reguinga did a great job and I think the wine is our best yet. We have deliberately eased back on the oak to allow the fruit to express itself more. The wine is a true reflection of our mountain terroir, ripe fruit combined with freshness and finesse. The grapes are Trincadeira, Aragonez and Alicante Bouschet with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon. I won’t fill this answer out with wine writer’s purple prose so suffice to say that I am very, very proud of it. Try it for yourself and see if you agree.

Text Sarah Ahmed

As a writer, what’s more a wine writer, how can it be that I had no idea that there are two definitions for the word “wine” in English !?! According to Oxford Dictionaries wine is not only “an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice” (the noun) but also a verb – “a dance with rhythmic gyratory movements of the pelvic region”. How very Elvis I thought until I noticed that the etymology is West Indian!

Photo by Sarah Ahmed | All Rights Reserved

Life is full of surprises. Take Simplesmente Vinho wine fair, a gathering of 22 maverick Portuguese wine producers where wine – noun and verb – collided in a heady, holistic, synergistic exchange between winemakers, artists and musicians.

I attended their second fair which took place earlier this year at (in fact beneath) the downtown Porto office of Skrei – a young practice of architects and craftsmen dedicated to urban regeneration. And regenerate the cellars they did, lining the walls with bottles of Portuguese soils, the rooting media of vines and, with sunlight, the generator of grapes and wines.

Photo by Sarah Ahmed | All Rights Reserved

As for the musicians, Caixa de Pandora, Bitrigode Trio and Thee Magnets, Simplesmente Vinho founder João Roseira (Quinta do Infantado) says “I’m crazy about music so, to be at a wine show where there’s good music is great, but it’s also about putting wine into people’s reality and bringing wine down to earth”.

Co-founder and fellow Douro winemaker Mateus Nicolau de Almeida (Muxagat) couldn’t agree more – “Simplesmente Vinho is not pretentious. We want to demystify wine and wine growers because special wines can be simple and can be drunk simply which is why we, the producers, are not behind tables – consumers feel that we are with them”. Roseira adds, where 90% of wine in Portugal is sold by supermarkets, it’s important to meet with consumers at fairs or the cellar door, also to support the cavistes who hand sell wines “because then people are learning about wine”.

Photo by Sarah Ahmed | All Rights Reserved

This inclusive, consumer-driven approach also explains the modest entry fee of €4. Something of a bargain to taste wines from 22 artisanal estates (including many personal favourites) alongside food from Oporto leading chefs Rui Paula of DOP/DOC, Luís Américo of O Mercado, also Joana Vieira and André Antunes of Delicatum in Braga who lists no less than 20 organic wines.

Although many of the Simplesmente Vinho producers work organically, sometimes biodynamically, Nicolau de Almeida says their philosophies and ideas about agriculture and winemaking are not necessarily the same. However, the common thread at this wine fair “created by producers for producers” is that everyone is “looking to what the vineyard, region and grapes give and not what the market wants” when they create their wines. Invariably, they also themselves work the vineyards as well as making and selling the wines. This way, he observes, “the people coming know what kind of producers we are and what kind of wine we are making”, which makes it more productive than attending one of the big, mainstream wine fairs “where small producers can get lost – everyone [producers and consumers] gets more facetime at Simplesmente Vinho”.

Photo by Sarah Ahmed | All Rights Reserved

In fact drawing its inspiration from France’s Haut Les Vins, Simplesmente Vinho is similarly an “off salon” timed to take place alongside Essência do Vinho, a much larger wine fair at which some 350 producers showed their wares this year. Which is not to say that Simplesmente Vinho is divisive. Far from it. As Roseira keenly points out, while it is “very difficult to get people together in Portugal since we are not very collaborative people, Essência do Vinho has provided the opportunity for more wine events to be held which helps to raise Oporto’s profile as Portugal’s capital of wine”. Rousing words about the city that Roseira says “breathes wine” and which I suggest you make a diary note now to visit next February or March when Simplesmente Vinho and Essência do Vinho once more take place.

This year, the following Portuguese producers attended Simplesmente Vinho:

Minho: Fernando Paiva – Quinta da Palmirinha | Tony Smith – Quinta de Covela | Vasco Croft – Aphros.

Douro: João Roseira – Quinta do Infantado | Joaquim Almeida – Quinta Vale de Pios | Mateus Nicolau de Almeida – Muxagat | Rita Marques – Conceito | Tiago Sampaio – Olho no Pé.

Dão: Álvaro e Maria Castro – Quinta da Pellada | António Madeira – António Madeira | João Tavares de Pina – Terras de Tavares | José Manuel e Carlos Ruivo – Lagar de Darei.

Bairrada: Dirk Niepoort – Quinta de Baixo (Niepoort Projectos) | Filipa Pato – Filipa Pato | Luís Pato – Luís Pato | Mário Sérgio Nuno – Quinta das Bágeiras.

Tejo e Lisboa: Paulo Saturnino Cunha – Pinhal da Torre | António Marques da Cruz – Quinta da Serradinha | Marta Soares – Casal Figueira.

Alentejo: Miguel Louro – Quinta do Mouro | Vitor Claro – Dominó.

Contacts

Simplesmente Vinho
vinhosimplesmente.2013@gmail.com
simplesmenteVinho

Texto Sarah Ahmed  | Tradução Patrícia Leite

O meu último artigo foi sobre Filipa Pato, representante de uma nova geração de enólogos portugueses bem-viajados (ou devo dizer produtores de vinho) que se têm destacado pelos seus vinhos entusiasmantes e orientados pelo terroir.

Em contraste com Filipa Pato (que agora estreitou o seu foco para a Bairrada), Rita Ferreira Marques, um dos elementos do grupo Young Winemakers of Portugal, lançou a sua rede de uma forma bem abrangente. E bem para além das Quintas da Veiga e do Chão do Pereiro no Douro Superior, as duas propriedades da família que têm sido a fonte da sua atractiva marca Conceito desde 2005. Pode-se acrescentar que isso acontece apesar destas quintas serem as maiores propriedades do Vale da Teja. Rita faz também um Sauvignon Blanc de Marlborough, na Nova Zelândia, um blend de Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot de Breedekloof, na África do Sul e um Alvarinho da sub-região de Monção e Melgaço dos Vinhos Verdes, tudo sob o rótulo Conceito. No ano passado, participou no relançamento da Quinta do Fojo, a famosa quinta no Cima Corgo (Rita faz os vinhos com Margarida Serôdio Borges).

Rita Ferreira Marques – Foto de Sarah Ahmed | Todos os Direitos Reservados

Questionei Rita Marques sobre seu desejo aparentemente insaciável de conhecimento e auto-melhoria. De onde vem? E como é que isso influenciou a sua abordagem à produção e ao Marketing dos seus vinhos?

Quais são as lições mais importantes que tem tirado dos seus estudos de enologia?

A importância da ciência e do desenvolvimento tecnológico. O desenvolvimento e o reforço da minha própria intuição e sentido crítico, tendo como base o conhecimento técnico para a compreensão e escolha de aceitar ou rejeitar práticas que vêm da tradição, da inovação, de pressões comerciais, etc. A importância decisiva das aprendizagens baseadas na prática que encontrei em Bordeaux, incluindo inúmeras provas de vinhos.

Quais são as lições mais importantes que tem tirado de suas viagens (visitas e trabalho no estrangeiro)?

Compreender a enologia em vários contextos, desde o quase industrial às pequenas adegas artesanais, onde tudo é feito à mão. Ser capaz de dar conta de todo o trabalho que surja num longo dia, tomando consciência que o vinho vem sempre em primeiro lugar e que justifica todos os sacrifícios. Perceber que algumas vinhas têm qualidades mágicas, seja a luz ou o solo, que as pessoas que fazem esses vinhos têm um enorme respeito pelas videiras e pelas uvas e sentir-me abençoada por ser capaz de utilizar esses factores e integrá-los num grande vinho.

Quais são as lições mais importantes que tem tirado de provar tantos vinhos (estrangeiros)?

Estudar e fazer os meus vinhos faz-me concentrar mais e mais no que posso melhorar em termos de viticultura e enologia. Provar muitos vinhos faz-me querer mais para os meus vinhos, faz-me olhar para fora e tentar perceber para onde quero ir. Provei alguns vinhos que me fizeram pensar “quando eu fizer um vinho assim ficarei satisfeita.”

Como é que essas lições afectaram a sua abordagem à viticultura, à produção e ao Marketing dos seus vinhos?

Todos os anos tento respeitar o que a natureza me oferece. Este respeito é demonstrado, desde logo, no facto de eu não usar pesticidas ou herbicidas na vinha. Faço sobretudo agricultura biológica, mas não me preocupo com certificações ou certificados. Acredito apenas que isso é melhor para os meus vinhos e acho mesmo que isso se vê. A outra lição é agendar a data de colheita, uma das decisões mais importantes que cabe a um enólogo.

Numa fase inicial, tentei fazer vinhos mais fáceis de beber, embora não pondo em risco a sua longevidade. Estou cada vez mais interessada em moderação e em ter meus vinhos cada vez mais bem-recebidos na mesa, preocupando-me cada vez mais com o equilíbrio, a frescura, a pureza, em vez do poder ou do corpo do vinho. Elegância é uma palavra forte para usar aqui, já que o Douro é um lugar quente, e não quero de maneira nenhuma lutar contra a maturação ou profundidade. Mas trabalho no sentido do equilíbrio e, todos as anos, tento adaptar a quantidade e qualidade das técnicas de extracção que uso para respeitar plenamente as uvas e o design dos vinhos que apresento.

A Rita estudou em Bordeaux e na Califórnia, bem como em Vila Real – como é que as abordagens ao Estudo do vinho em Portugal, Bordeaux e Califórnia diferem entre si? Como é que estudar em Bordeaux e na Califórnia a ajudou? Como é que esses estudos trouxeram valor à sua experiência em Vila Real?

Em Bordeaux, tive o prazer de estudar e trabalhar com Denis Dubourdieu, uma grande pessoa, um grande enólogo e um grande professor. Na Universidade de Bordeaux os cursos que fiz foram muito focados na prova e de alguns dos melhores vinhos do mundo. É engraçado que, infelizmente, em Vila Real também temos disponíveis alguns dos melhores vinhos do mundo, mas eles não chegam às salas de aula da Universidade. Os cursos básicos que tirei em Vila Real (e, antes, em Coimbra) tinham um nível adequado ao que aprendi posteriormente em Bordeaux e na Califórnia. Vila Real é mais teórica do que Bordeaux ou Califórnia, não tem a parte prática suficiente. Outra grande diferença é que em Bordeaux tudo tem a ver com o vinho e com a produção de vinho. Assim, os estudantes podem trabalhar em empresas vitivinícolas durante as vindimas, o que é impossível em Vila Real, já que o calendário académico não está adaptado à realidade da produção de vinho.

O site Young Winemakers of Portugal diz que “a nova geração de enólogos portugueses adaptou sua produção a uma nova era e está a criar vinhos que já não podem ser considerados fortes demais para o gosto internacional. A Rita sente que entende o que os consumidores querem nos diferentes mercados e adaptou de alguma maneira a forma de fazer ou apresentar os seus vinhos para que se ajustem a diferentes mercados?

Sim e não. Algumas coisas ainda são um enigma para mim, por exemplo, porque é que um estilo particular de vinho é um sucesso em alguns países e não o é de todo noutros países. Tento fazer vinhos que respeitam o que a natureza oferece em todos os sítios onde os produzo. Os vinhos de que gosto não são pesados ou enjoativos e por isso é natural que tente fazer esses vinhos em todos os locais em que trabalho. Mas sinto que a minha missão (para dizê-lo “em grande”) é oferecer parte daquele lugar (designadamente, e sempre o que penso em primeiro lugar, o Douro) na mesa das pessoas. Não é tanto dar-lhes um vinho que eles possam querer mais do que outro, mas que não iria respeitar esse sentido de origem.

Haverá alguns vinhos das suas viagens que tiveram uma influência fundamental no seu trabalho? Qual o impacto que tiveram?

José Luís Mateo, de Monterey, ou Didier Raveneau, em Chablis, fazem vinhos surpreendentes, cheios de limpidez, de luz, de frescura. Ricardo Freitas, da Madeira, faz vinhos que são uma lição de intuição em enologia para uma produtora de Porto como eu. Nesses casos, a terra oferece uvas perfeitas, eles têm uma obsessão com a acidez e a frescura das uvas e, acima de tudo, fazem as coisas de forma simples e franca.

Existem vinhos de Portugal que tiveram uma influência fundamental em seu trabalho? Qual o impacto que tiveram?

Sim, claro, tanto grandes vinhos como vinhos simples. Por exemplo, ao provar colheitas antigas do Fojo fiquei encantada com a pureza, o foco e a juventude desses vinhos. Mas também ao provar as primeiras colheitas de Duorum fiquei a pensar nas técnicas que permitiriam os meus vinhos serem mais acessíveis numa fase mais jovem e esforcei-me para fazer um trabalho mais preciso na extracção. Depois, os vinhos de Mário Sérgio Alves Nuno, na Bairrada, de Álvaro Castro, no Dão, ou de Miguel Louro, no Alentejo (para citar apenas alguns), também influenciaram a maneira como eu vejo o vinho.

Rita Ferreira Marques – Foto de Cedida por Rita Marques | Todos os Direitos Reservados

Em Inglaterra há um ditado que diz que o que importa não é o que sabemos, mas quem nós conhecemos. Que vantagens teve por ser tão bem relacionada?

Cada professor ou chefe com que trabalhamos dá-nos parte do seu conhecimento, mais experiência, ajuda-nos a corrigir alguns erros e dá resposta a algumas das nossas perguntas. Mas um professor realmente bom também nos orienta para mais perguntas, faz-nos questionar o que aprendemos e leva-nos a querer aprender mais. Assim, vamos de um lugar para outro, às vezes com uma recomendação, outras vezes só porque ouvimos dizer que os nossos ídolos falaram sobre um dos seus ídolos (ou lugares, ou vinhos). Além disso, é mais fácil voltar a um sítio e começar aí a fazer alguma coisa quando já conhecemos alguém ou temos uma recomendação [Rita está aqui a referir-se ao facto de ter trabalhado em Villa Maria, na Nova Zelândia, e com Bruce Jack de Laje, na África do Sul]. O mundo é pequeno e o mundo do vinho é muito generoso com seus habitantes.

Das pessoas que você conheceu nas suas viagens ao exterior, há alguma em especial que a tenha inspirado ou ajudado?

Já mencionei alguns nomes, mas estou a ser injusta, porque são realmente inúmeras pessoas (todos os lugares onde eu trabalhei inspiraram-me e ajudaram-me a ser uma melhor enóloga) e não apenas os professores e colegas enólogos, mas também sommeliers, clientes, colegas de curso. Podemos todos os dias ser inspirados por alguém. Faço sempre questão de ouvir o que as pessoas têm a dizer, sejam eles famosos enólogos ou o provador de vinho mais inexperiente ou o cliente. Nunca sabemos de onde pode vir uma boa ideia, e muitas vezes conhecimentos bons e preciosos podem estar escondidos nalguma velha história, ou até mesmo alguma ideia errada sobre uma casta, as barricas, um lugar.

Das pessoas que conheceu em Portugal, há alguma em especial que a tenha inspirado ou ajudado?

Jorge Serôdio Borges foi o primeiro enólogo com quem trabalhei e que me inspirou com sua enorme dedicação. Dirk Niepoort com sua paixão pelo vinho. Como disse, é impossível falar de todos eles. Recentemente conheci um produtor, António Ribeiro, que sabe muito sobre castas antigas, o seu desempenho e papel no campo e na adega, e como tudo isso influencia o vinho do Porto que faz. Às vezes, tudo se resume a ter tempo para nos sentarmos, pegarmos num copo e permitirmo-nos passar o tempo numa boa conversa.

Disse que uma das vantagens de produzir vinhos varietais, por exemplo um Sauvignon Blanc da Nova Zelândia, é que se aprende a fazê-lo rapidamente. Acha que o potencial de Portugal tem demorado um pouco a concretizar-se porque existem tantas castas diferentes para trabalhar, o que faz com que seja difícil os enólogos entenderem como podem conseguir o melhor resultado possível das suas vinhas?

Sou uma grande fã de blends de vinhos e de vinhas. Na verdade, acabei de plantar uma parcela de várias castas com cerca de 15 variedades diferentes. Isso torna a aprendizagem mais lenta, mas é uma questão de utilizar o conhecimento que já existe nas pessoas, mesmo que não esteja estruturado em livros científicos, como acontece noutros países. Não podemos ter as duas coisas. A nossa gama de castas autóctones é um dom que recebemos do passado, um milagre da nossa cultura e da nossa agricultura. Se isso torna os nossos vinhos mais difíceis de entender, isso é um pequeno preço a pagar por trabalhar com tanta variedade e por oferecer diferença, complexidade e interesse aos vinhos, o que Portugal pode e está a fazer. Ao provar vinhos velhos de todas as regiões portuguesas descobrimos que o potencial não foi criado ontem, esteve sempre lá. Os olhos do mundo talvez não estivessem focados nos nossos vinhos, mas esse factor foi talvez decisivo para a preservação do carácter dos nossos vinhos.

Como é que a Rita consegue o equilíbrio certo entre ocupar muito tempo nas suas vinhas para conhecê-las e em viajar pelo mundo a vender o seu vinho e ainda a fazer o vinho no Cabo e na Nova Zelândia?

As estações do ano separam muito bem o hemisfério norte do sul, de modo que foi fácil. O resto também é fácil: só viajo para vender e promover meus vinhos se isso não entrar em conflito com a produção dos vinhos e com o necessário acompanhamento a esse trabalho. Dois acontecimentos recentes mudaram um pouco as minhas condições de trabalho. Fui mãe, por isso tenho menos tempo para estar longe de casa e até certo ponto menos vontade de estar longe de casa. Por outro lado, o enólogo Manuel Sapage começou a trabalhar connosco e isso dá-me uma maior confiança para viajar enquanto os vinhos estão a ser bem acompanhados.

Os site Young Winemakers of Portugal diz sobre o vosso grupo que “Todos eles produzem vinhos distintos e mostram uma nova forma de produzir vinhos diferenciada e desinibida. Aprender com a tradição e trazer novos métodos”. Como é que equilibra a tradição com novos métodos e qual é o seu exemplo mais bem sucedido disso?

Falando por mim, eu diria que o exemplo mais bem-sucedido teria de ser o meu vinho tinto feito exclusivamente de Bastardo. Isto é bastante inovador, já que quase ninguém fez e engarrafou um vinho seco de Bastardo no Douro, mas também porque o vinho é feito da forma mais tradicional possível, sendo as uvas pisadas em lagares de granito sem desengaço e com levedura autóctone.
Tendo em conta a sua experiência em mercados e vinhos internacionais de todo o mundo, quais acha que são os maiores pontos fortes e pontos fracos da indústria do vinho portuguesa.

Pontos fortes: a variedade das castas, os blends, os estilos, o que é surpreendente para um país tão pequeno. Além disso, o maior know-how e a ambição que uma nova geração de produtores de vinho está a demonstrar ter. E o prestígio internacional do vinho do Porto, um verdadeiro potencial que nunca foi plenamente explorado para comercializar os nossos outros vinhos.
Pontos fracos: o contexto económico está a impedir muitos desses jovens de produzir e vender os seus vinhos. Há muita pressão para baixar os preços e isso decorre das empresas, que estando financeiramente fracas, lutam para vender em vez de manter a calma e acreditar na qualidade de seus produtos, defendendo e aumentando o seu valor. Além disso, a promoção deveria ser melhor coordenada pelas entidades públicas, porque resolver os problemas apenas com dinheiro é algo que funciona muito raramente.

Como é que acha que Portugal pode utilizar melhor esses pontos fortes e ultrapassar esses pontos fracos?

Não faço ideia. Acho que apenas temos de continuar. Os dados mais recentes mostram que a tendência é de crescimento. Ainda há muito trabalho a fazer na educação do público dos nossos vinhos e isso inclui alguns dos profissionais que desempenham um papel-chave na indústria. Quanto mais pessoas souberem sobre vinho, mais fácil é vender um bom vinho, designadamente um bom vinho português.

Contactos
CONCEITO – VINHOS
Telemóvel: (+351) 939 000 350
Tel: (+351) 279 778 059
Email: conceito@conceito.com.pt
Website: www.conceito.com.pt

Text Sarah Ahmed

My last post focused on Filipa Pato, one of a new generation of well-travelled Portuguese winemakers (or should I say wine growers) who are making waves with exciting, terroir-driven wines.
In stark contrast with Pato (who has now narrowed her focus to Bairrada), Rita Ferreira Marques, a member of Young Winemakers of Portugal, has cast the net wide. Well beyond the parameters of Quintas da Veiga and Chão do Pereiro in the Douro Superior, the two family estates which have been the source of her eye-catchingly labelled Conceito brand since 2005. One might add, even though said family estates are the Teja Valley’s largest properties.

Marques additionally makes a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend from Breedekloof, South Africa and an Alvarinho from the Vinho Verde subregion of Monçao e Melgaço, all under the Conceito label. Last year, she became involved in the re-launch Quinta do Fojo, the famous Cima Corgo estate (Marques is making the wines with Margarida Serôdio Borges).

Rita Ferreira Marques – Photo by Sarah Ahmed – All Rights Reserved

I asked Marques about her seemingly insatiable appetite for knowledge and self-improvement. Where does it come from? And how has it influenced her approach to making and marketing her wines?

What are the most important lessons that you have taken away from your oenology studies?

The importance of science, and technological development. The development and reinforcement of my own intuition and critical sense, having technical knowledge as a basis for understanding and choosing to accept or reject practices coming from tradition, from innovation, from commercial pressures, etc. The decisive importance of practical based learnings, including a lot of tasting, that I found in Bordeaux.

What are the most important lessons that you have taken away from your travels (visiting and working abroad)?

To understand winemaking in several contexts, from the almost industrial, to small handcrafted wineries where everything is made by hand. To be able to take any amount of work during a day’s long hours, realising that the wine always comes first, and justifies every sacrifice. To understand that some vineyards have magical qualities, be them the light, or the soil, and the people that make those wines there have a huge respect for the plants, the grapes, and feel blessed to be able to take those factors and integrate them in great wine.

What are the most important lessons that you have taken away from tasting so widely (foreign wines)?

Studying and making my wines makes me focus more and more on what I can improve in vine growing and winemaking. Tasting widely makes me want more for my wines, it makes me look out and try to get a grasp of the place I want to go to. I have tasted some wines that left me thinking “when I make a wine like this I will be satisfied.”

How have these lessons affected your approach to grape growing, winemaking and marketing your wines?

Every year I try to respect what nature offers me. That respect is firstly shown in the fact that I don’t use pesticides or herbicides in the vineyard. Mostly I do organic farming, but don’t care about certifications or diplomas. I just believe it’s better for my wines, and indeed I think it shows. The other thing is to book the harvest date, one of the most important single decisions of a winemaker. I have tried to make my wines easier to drink at an early stage, while not endangering their longevity. I am more and more interested in restraint, and having my wines more and more welcome at the table, worrying more and more about balance, freshness, purity, rather than power or body. Elegance is a strong word to use here, as the Douro is a hot place, and by no means do I want to fight ripeness, or depth. But I do work towards balance and, each year, I try to adapt the quantity and quality of the extractive techniques I use to fully respect the grapes, and the design of the wines I propose.

You studied in Bordeaux and California as well as at Vila Real – how did the approaches to studying wine in Portugal, Bordeaux and California differ if at all? How did studying in Bordeaux and California help you? How did they add value to your experience in Vila Real?

In Bordeaux I had the pleasure of studying and working with Denis Dubourdieu, a great person, a great winemaker, and a great teacher. In the University of Bordeaux the courses I took were very much focused on tasting, and in this case tasting some of the best wines in the world. It’s sadly funny that at Vila Real we also have available some of the best wines in the world, but they don’t get to the University classrooms. The basic courses I took in Vila Real (and previously in Coimbra) had an appropriate level for what I subsequently learned in Bordeaux and California. Vila Real is more theoretical than Bordeaux or California, doesn’t have practice enough. Another major difference is that in Bordeaux everything is about wine and making wine. So the students are allowed to work in wineries during harvest, which is impossible in Vila Real, for the school calendars are not adapted to the winemaking reality.

The Young Winemakers of Portugal website says “the coming generation of Portuguese winemakers have adapted their production to a new era and are creating wines that no longer can be regarded as being too robust for the international palate of taste. Do you feel that you understand what consumers in your different markets want and have you adapted how you make or present your wines in any way so that they fit in with different markets?

Yes and no. Some things remain a puzzle to me, for instance why some particular style of wine is a success in some country and not at all in another. I try to make wines that respect what nature offers in the place I am sourcing them from. The wines I like are not heavy or cloying, and so naturally I try to make such wines in every place I work in. But I feel that my mission (to put it grand) is to deliver a bit of that place (namely, and always first in my mind, Douro) to peoples’ tables, not really to give them something they might want to drink over some other thing, but that wouldn’t respect that sense of origin.

Are there any wines from your travels which have had a key influence on your work? What impact did they have?

José Luis Mateo from Monterey or Didier Raveneau in Chablis make the most astonishing wines, full of clarity, light, freshness. Ricardo Freitas from Madeira makes wines that are a lesson in winemaking intuition for a Porto producer like me. In those cases, the land offers perfect fruit, they have an obsession with acidity and freshness of fruit, and most of all they keep everything simple and upfront.

Are there any wines from Portugal which have had a key influence on your work? What impact did they have?

Yes, of course, both great wines and regular wines. For instance, tasting old vintages of Fojo I was taken away by the purity, focus and youth of those wines. But also tasting the first vintages of Duorum I was left wondering about techniques that would allow my wines to be more accessible at a younger stage and strived to do a more precise job when extracting. Then wines from Mário Sérgio Alves Nuno in Bairrada, Álvaro Castro in Dão or Miguel Louro in Alentejo (to name just a few) also influenced the way I look to wine.

Rita Ferreira Marques – Photo Provided by Rita Marques | All Rights Reserved

In England there is a saying it’s not what you know, but who you know. What advantages has been so well networked brought?

Every teacher or boss you work with gives you part of his or her knowledge, more experience, helps you correct some mistakes, and provides answers for some of your questions. But a really good teacher will also point you towards more questions, makes you question what you have learned, and drives you into wanting to learn more. So you go from one place to another, sometimes with a recommendation, sometimes just because you heard of your idols talk about one of his idols (or places, or wines). Plus, it’s easier to go back to one place and start something there if you already know someone or have a recommendation [Marques is here referring to having worked at Villa Maria in New Zealand and with Bruce Jack of Flagstone in South Africa]. It’s a small world, and the world of wine is really generous with its inhabitants.

Are there any people whom you’ve met on your travels abroad who have particularly inspired you or helped you?
I already mentioned some names before, but I am being unfair, it’s really countless people (all the places where I work inspired and helped me to be a better winemaker) and not only teachers and fellow winemakers, it’s sommeliers, customers, school colleagues. Every day we can be inspired by anyone. I always make it a point to listen to what people have to say, be them famous winemakers or the most inexperienced wine taster, or client. We never know where a good idea might be coming from, and often good and precious knowledge can be hidden in some old story, or even some misconception about a grape, a barrel, a place.

Are there any people whom you’ve met in Portugal who have particularly inspired you or helped you?

Jorge Serôdio Borges was the first winemaker I worked with and he inspired me with his enormous dedication. Dirk Niepoort with his passion for wine. Again, it’s impossible to talk about all of them. Recently I have met a farmer, António Ribeiro, who knows a huge amount about old grape varieties, their performance and role in the field and in the cellars, and how it all influences the resulting Port wine he makes. Sometimes, it’s all about having the time to sit down, grab a glass to allow yourself to spend time in a good conversation.

You said that an advantage of producing varietal wines, for example New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, is that you learn quickly. Do you think that Portugal’s potential has been relatively slow to be realised because there are so many different varieties to work with and field blends make it difficult for winemakers to understand how to coax the best possible result from their vineyard?

I am a big fan of blends and of field blends. In fact I have just planted a mixed field with about 15 different varieties. It does make the learning curve slower, but it’s a matter of grabbing the knowledge that already exists in people, even if it’s not structured into scientific books, as in other countries. We cannot have it both ways. Our range of autochthonous grape varieties is a gift we received from the past, a miracle of our culture and agriculture. If it makes our wines harder to understand, that’s a small price to pay for working with such variety and bringing difference, complexity and interest to the wines Portugal can and is offering. Tasting old wines from every Portuguese region we discover that the potential was not created yesterday, it was always there. The world’s eyes were perhaps not focused on our wines, but then again that factor was perhaps decisive in this preservation of character.

How do you get the balance right between spending lots of time in your vineyards getting to know them and on the other, travelling around the world selling your wine and making wine in the Cape and New Zealand?

The seasons separate quite well the northern from the southern hemisphere so that was easy. The rest is also easy: I will travel anywhere to sell and promote my wines, provided that does not conflict with making them and attending to them. Two recent events changed somewhat the work conditions. I became a mother, so I have less time away from home and to some extent less desire of being away from home. The other thing is that the winemaker Manuel Sapage started working with us, and that gives me an increased confidence in traveling while leaving the wines well attended.

The Young Winemakers of Portugal website says of your group “They all produce distinctive wines, and show a new way of differentiated and uninhibited winemaking. Learning from tradition and bringing new methods.” How do you balance tradition with new methods and what is your most successful example of balancing tradition with new methods?

Speaking for myself, I would say that the most successful example would have to be my red wine made exclusively with Bastardo. This is quite an innovation since almost no one made and bottled a dry wine of Bastardo in Douro, but it is also made in the most traditional way possible, being foot trodden in granite lagars without de-stemming and with autochthonous yeast.

Given your experience of the international market and wines from around the world, what do you think are the Portuguese wine industry’s greatest strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths: the variety of grapes, blends, styles, something amazing for such a small country. Also the increased know-how and ambition that a new generation of wine-makers is showing. And the international prestige of Port wine, a true potential that was never explored to full extent to market our other wines.

Weaknesses: the economic climate is preventing many of those youngsters from making and selling their wines. There is a lot of pressure to lower prices, and that comes from financially weak companies, struggling to sell instead of keeping calm, believing in the quality of their products and sticking to defending and increasing their value. Also, promotion should be better coordinated by public bodies, throwing money at the problems very seldom works.

How do you think Portugal can best play to these strengths and overcome these weaknesses?

No idea. I think we just have to keep going. The most recent figures show that the trend is for growth. There is still a lot of work to be done in educating our wine public, and that includes some of the professionals that play key roles in the industry. The more people know about wine, the easier is to sell good wine, and in particular good Portuguese wine.

Contacts
CONCEITO – VINHOS
Mobile: (+ 351) 939 000 350
Tel: (+ 351) 279 778 059
E-mail: conceito@conceito.com.pt
Website: www.conceito.com.pt

Text Sarah Ahmed

We have corresponded by email. I’ve tasted his wines. I’d even met his father and wife several times. And finally I met with Mateus Nicolau de Almeida at Simplesmente Vinho in Oporto last month.
The following week I was back, visiting the family-owned Douro Superior vineyard from which he part sources grapes for his Muxagat label and from which he, his father and brother (João Nicolau de Almeida senior and junior) jointly make Quinta de Monte Xisto which is marketed by his sister Mafalda Nicolau de Almeida. It would seem that this winemaking family get on very well because the blend is very harmonious!!

Photo by Sarah Ahmed / All Rights Reserved

João Nicolau de Almeida senior has earned his place in the Douro history books as a result of his pioneering work at Ramos Pinto’s Quinta de Ervamoira. Marking the birth place of a new viticultural era in the Douro, Ervamoira was the first Douro quinta to be block planted with single varietal parcels focused on the so-called “top cinco,” which Nicolau de Almeida’s pilot study helped to identify (they are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão and Tinta Barroca). It was also the first quinta to be vertically planted (a break from the tradition of contoured, horizontal terraces).
Following firmly in both the footsteps of his father and his grandfather (Barca Velha creator Fernando Nicolau de Almeida), Mateus is also breaking new ground. Describing himself as a “Douro Vigneron,” the city life in Oporto is not for him. He lives full-time in the Douro Superior from where he can focus on tending his vines as well as making the wine. Even the front garden of the home he shares with his wife (Ramos Pinto winemaker Teresa Ameztoy) is a vineyard! He observes, “there is no culture of vignerons in the Douro – it’s very recent. I can count on the fingers of one hand the winemakers who live in the valley and not in the big towns. Now a younger generation are starting to live here.”
Mateus Nicolau de Almeida set down roots in the Douro Superior in 2003, which is when he started the Muxagat project.

Adopting his grandfather’s methodology for Barca Velha (which his father has also used to great effect for Ramos Pinto’s Duas Quintas range) he sources grapes from old field blend vineyards from higher altitudes such as Muxagata and Meda (at between 500-700m) as well as Quinta do Monte Xisto which, rising to around 300m, is lower and warmer.

Photo by Sarah Ahmed / All Rights Reserved

Where Quinta do Monte Xisto had not previously been cultivated, Nicolau de Almeida and his siblings successfully made the case for cultivating the vineyard organically. It was planted between 2005 and 2006 and is now certified organic. He explains, “the land was virgin, so we didn’t want to add chemical products.” Though his father was initially doubtful about a non-interventionist approach (“his background is mechanisation”), he was prepared to be open-minded and has been very happy with the results. Nicolau de Almeida’s pride and joy in the family project brims over in the shape of an ear-splitting grin when I share with him his father’s comment that he has learned a lot working with his sons. He (Mateus) adds “we are different generations, we have different ideas and perspectives, but we always arrive at the same conclusion [great grapes and great wine] even if it is in a different way.”
So why has this non-interventionist approach proved so successful? Nicolau de Almeida reckons, among other things, “vines are like children – they must suffer, otherwise they will be spoiled.” He says it would have been all too easy to reach for the herbicide when grass grew between the vines, but the competition has been good for them. He also emphasises the importance of living in the region “because it takes a long time to understand a vineyard. You do something in one year and you only see the results after five years…you need to talk with nature and be here every day to feel nature and connect with nature.” It’s why, although he has adopted some biodynamic practices (for example cultivating the vineyard in harmony with planetary rhythms and applying preparation 500/composted cow manure), he has not hired a biodynamic consultant and is not racing towards biodynamic certification.
He is, however, convinced of the importance of biodiversity “because we can reach a moment with biodiversity when we don’t need to treat the vineyard; already we treat the vineyard less and less.” Insofar as treatments or tisanes are applied, they include locally-sourced natural ingredients, for example eucalyptus (an antiseptic) and cacti “which acts like aloe vera for the skin,” protecting the grapes from the sun. Having tested grapes which have been grown with and without the cacti tisane he has observed that using it results in wines which are fresher (with a lower pH) and lighter (with a lower alcohol).

More generally he has noticed that, when he receives grapes into the winery from those vineyards which he personally has tended, it is as if he knows them already – “I know what is going to happen.” It is almost as if the grapes themselves are part of the family. In fact come to think of it I’d say the resulting wines are both charming and provocative, much like the Nicola de Almeida family. Here are my notes on the wines:
Muxagat MUX Branco 2012 (Douro)
This combination of 80% Rabigato with other (unspecified old field blend) varieties is very mineral and lip-smackingly fresh with ripe lemons, a tight citric backbone and a hint of smoky hazelnut to its long, well-focused finish. The gravity-pressed wine is part aged in subterranean concrete vats and part aged in 600l oak barrels. Very good – love its vim and vigour.
Muxagat Os Xistos Altos Rabigato 2011 (Douro)
This 100% Rabigato from a vineyard at 500m spent two years ageing in a combination of 2000l Austrian foudres and concrete egg-shaped fermenters. It is a stonier, more textural wine with a salty edge to its long, limpid finish. Less direct, more subtle than the MUX it gives much less away. But with more structure it has time to unravel its secrets. And I reckon it will be worth the wait. Very good; decant now or give it another 6 months to a year before broaching.
Muxagat MUX Rosé 2012 (Douro)

This is a really interesting rosé – I’m tempted to say intellectual, but I think that might be pushing it too far! Anyway, what I mean is that it bears little resemblance to the sweetish cheap and cheerful pink wines to be found in every corner shop and supermarket. All of which stands to reason given that MUX is sourced from a very high vineyard at 700m, moreover is influenced by the kind of dry, savoury rosés which Nicolau de Almeida’s southern French friends like to drink on a summer’s day (think Provence, Bandol, Tavel). A blend of Tinto Cão and Tinta Barroca which is fermented and aged partly in tank, partly in (old) barrel, this pinkish beige wine is creamy but dry and savoury with good acidity, lifted floral and dried spice notes and a hint of chocolate to its lingering finish. Much nicer than that sounds!

Muxagat Tinta Barroca 2012 (Douro)
For Nicolau de Almeida the key to this surprisingly lively Tinta Barroca (it is prone to high sugar/alcohol) is low yields and elevation. Like the rosé it comes from a vineyard at 700m. Grapes are de-stemmed and crushed then fermented in subterranean (closed) concrete vats where the wine is aged for 8 months in order to maximise aroma and fruit expression. Job well done because, though a little reduced on the nose, this is a vibrant, gently perfumed vin de soif with floral notes, chocolate and a spicy cinnamon edge to its round damson and red berry fruit. Smooth but grainy tannins, salt lick minerality and good freshness make for an interesting but easy going wine. Very well done. 13%
Muxagat MUX Tinto 2011 (Douro)
This is very 2011 in its concentration with structure. It has a really lovely intensity of dark but juicy berry, cherry and currant fruit. Layers of cinnamon, wild herbs, chocolate and liquorice bring lift, depth and resonance to the finish. Ripe but present tannins and firm acidity make for a long, very youthful finish. Excellent. Character and class.
Muxagat Cisne 2010 (Douro)
Cisne means swan in Portuguese. Nicolau de Almeida chose the name for this wine because, like the ugly duckling from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, its principal grape variety (Tinto Cão) only reveals its beauty with age. In fact a week earlier I’d tasted this wine alongside a 1981 Tinto Cão from Ramos Pinto (a trial wine). The older wine completely took me aback with its powerful intensity and unbelievably deep (squid ink) youthful colour. Cisne is co-fermented with (7%) Rabigato and aged for three years in old oak barrels in an effort to tame its wildest excesses. Still, it’s a very intense wine with deep-seated inky/floral, bitter chocolate and spice notes to its tight, well-defined black currant and earthier raspberry fruit, a touch of greenness too. Ripe but firm tannins and acidity forecast a long life ahead. As they say in Portugal, it is not a “consensual” wine. It will certainly benefit from time in bottle. But there is no denying it has character in spades. Singular and, like an intense person, inwardly-focused and initially reserved, but then the ideas come in waves…and they’re good ones! 14%

João Nicolau de Almeida & Filhos Quinta do Monte Xisto 2011 (Douro)
At 300m, one might have expected Quinta do Monte Xisto to be much broader, with more heft than the Muxagat wines which are part sourced from higher vineyards. However, with both (cooler) north and (warmer) south facing slopes and water-retentive solid schist subsoil Quinta do Monte Xisto is surprisingly fine, lifted even. It helps that, while the fruit from the lower slopes is foot-trodden in lagars, higher altitude fruit is fermented in tank to preserve aroma and fruit. Also that it is aged (for 18 months) in mostly seasoned large (old) barrels of French and 4000l Austrian oak. It is very deep in colour and very perfumed on the nose with rose petal verging on turkish delight exotic lift, a quality which follows through in the mouth. And, with its very pure, very supple crushed raspberry and black berry fruit and sheer, fine tannins, the palate has a surprising levity about it. But most noteworthy of all is its pronounced minerality. Not for nothing is the quinta named after its schist (xisto) soils. Long and persistent with lovely saturation and palate penetration, its finely honed, mineral-sluiced finish has delicious fluidity – so very far removed from “the bigger the better” super-extracted styles of the past. An outstanding debut from this young vineyard.

Contacts:

www.muxagat.pt
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quintadomontexisto.com