Purely Pato: The Beauty of Bairrada (without makeup)
From winery website.
Portugal has been a hot bed of creativity and intrigue in recent years. As generations change hands, a new kind of vision is underway for this country. Vignerons are en vogue, contracts with port houses are expiring, a new interest in old, indigenous varieties are trending harder each year, and a pride for regional identity is inspiring better wines to be born into the global market for all to experience Portugal’s mosaic of potential. We are all bumbling to still understand and pronounce their 340+ native varieties, but we are enjoying the ride.
Over the years, we have been hoping to find some Portuguese producers who make beautiful wines that speak plainly of where they are grown with indigenous grapes — wines that would give us and our customers access to terroir-driven vignerons that are not always easy to find on the shelves or on wine lists. In Filipa Pato, we no doubt found our match. She is widely regarded as one of the leaders in Bairrada for her fearless, uncompromising commitment to preserving place in her wine.
Filipa goes by the motto “Authentic Wines Without Makeup” to drive her point home — all indigenous, vineyard-made, no nonsense in the cellar wines. Plain and simple. She comes from a very long line of growers dating back to 18th century. Her father, Luis the ‘Baga rebel’, instilled in her a passion and pride for Bairrada. Where Luis is credited for restoring life and vibrancy to this region — pushing the potential and quality for the Baga grape with modern and innovative winemaking technique through the 80s into the new century — Filipa has her own mission to craft unadorned expressions of primarily Baga and Bical starting (and nearly ending) in the vineyard. Baga can have incredible vibrancy and lightness, but it can also develop serious complexity as it ages and has been compared to Pinot in that way. Similarly, Bical offers a white Burgundian counterpart when made in a way to preserve its minerality, as Filipa does. It is a fairly neutral grape that emphasizes zest, light florality, citrus, and salinity. Other grapes like this might be albarino to some extent and even Riesling or certain Greek varieties like Assytriko.
Of their 12 hectares, the oldest vineyard dates back to 1864 — an own-rooted pre-phylloxera that is the source for their massale selection for propogating new vines throughout their estate. All of her parcels are Biodynamic certified and supported by an interwoven ecosystem of sheep, chickens, pigs, herbal cover crops, bushes, local trees, and a wide variety of flora and fauna. In nurturing this environment, they can realize the personality of each parcel.
William has an extensive background as a sommelier/chef (even serving the Belgian national soccer team for the World Cup in Brazil and European cup in France). Together they brought together all their love for land, food, wine, and people in one place — creating unforgettable and distinctly regional experiences in their home.
Bairrada is a unique region in that it is only about 20 km from the Atlantic coast. It experiences a lot of rain and humidity (45 inches annually) as well as impressive diurnal swings (summer highs of 90s down to upper 50s at night). These wines are not like some of the more intense, warm expressions we see from other regions. Rather, they have a real freshness of acidity and more moderate alcohols. There a reason about 50% of Portugal’s sparkling wines are made here.
Bairrada is sandwiched between the ocean and the Dao mountains to the east. To the north and south are the Vouga and Montego Rivers respectively. These diverse geographic border make for some interesting soil differences. On the whole, Bairrada has clay with a fair bit of limestone (calcareous clay). Towards the rivers, there is more alluvial and conglomerate soils, where nearer to the mountains we see more schist and fossils. Sandier strips are interspersed with calcareous clay as we get closer to the sea. Filipa vineyard are considered the western coastal/central region of Ois de Bairro where the soils are sandy and overlay calcareous clay, giving her wines arguably more finesse and refinement overall.
Filipa works with a wide range of vessels from stainless steel to amphora. In line with her philosophy ‘without makeup’, only moderate sulphur and oak is used, and she refrains from fining and filtering wines. This goes for the sparkling wines as well — a choice that she feels impacts the texture and finesse of the bubbles — “more integrated” is how she described it in one interview.
Here’s the skinny on what’s coming, so you can begin to orient your customers to the lineup and get them excited as well!
Filipa Pato Metodo Tradicional 3B Blanc de Blancs NV — Bical (70%), Maria Gomes (23%) and Cercial (7%), Traditional Method, 9 mo on lees, no dosage. 0-2 g/l. Several parcels on chalky jurassic soils. "Vinho de Mesa, white sparkling wine extra brut from Óis do Bairro, Portugal. A very old region of glowing valleys, since centuries known for the production of wines of excellent quality of Cerceal, Bical and Maria Gomes. The rural scenery is dominated by the Caramulo mountain.”
Filipa Pato D.N.M.C. Vinho Branco Bical/Arinto 2021 — Bical (80%), Arinto (20%). Whole bunch pressed and fermented in tank with native yeast (10% fermented in neutral 500L French oak). Intense influence for Atlantic (15 km away) with eastern orientation. Chalky midslope. "Bical is harvested in the beginning of September, the Arinto on the other hand, matures later and is harvested 2 – 3 weeks later. Vinification happens seperately. The wine matures on the lees without batonnage. The wines stabileses naturally during the cold winter. The final blend is made in early springtime when the wine is stabile."
Filipa Pato D.N.M.C. Vinho Tinto Baga 2021 — Baga (100%), various vineyards in Bairrada. Destemmed with light extraction yet long maceration on skins. Eastern facing limestone slopes (mid), young vines (massale from centenary Baga vineyard). They explain "Our “D.N.M.C.”philosophy is that Baga from different locations gives a more complex wine. Each location has its own expression of Baga. This for us is a real terroir driven wine and a nice example of Baga with a fruity character and soft tannins. Every plot is vinified apart and at the end we assemble all of them into one balanced unique “cuvée”, “Dinamica” – D.N.M.C.” Described as fresh, versatile, vibrant, red-fruited with dried herbs reminiscent of herbs d’Provence.
Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Bical 2021 (6 x 750ml) (coming soon!)— Bical (100%) handharvested from one single vineyard in Óis do Bairro 15 km from ocean on chalky soils. Whole bunch pressed free run juice straight into casks (500-600L). Aged in naturally constant temperature under 20C. No batonnage. They describe a “very mineral nose with a certain smokiness due to the limestone soil. It has a distinguished fruity touch of pears (typical Bical) and slightly nutty character (hazelnut, almonds, pines). After some time in the glass it even reveals thyme and honey. The mouth is refined, creamy, relatively smooth and has present minerality, a kind of saltiness due to typical Atlantic climate."
Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Baga 2017 (6 x 750ml) — Baga (100%) - Coming from 3 biodynamically farmed centenary vineyards (80-130 years) in Bairraida (3-4 bunches/vine). Partly destemmed and fermented in open top laggers with light punch downs. aGED IN 500-600L for 18 months. They explain, "Inspired in the viticulture of Filipa´s grandmother, these vineyards are the real heritage of the region. They give an exceptional complexity to the wine, thanks to the expression of the Baga grape from different and well defined locations. When you work centenary vineyards with Biodynamic pratice, you really understand the notion "un grand terroir”. The wine is almost generous with an intense structure and richness in harmony with the fine and noble tannins. It is neither too rough or too heavy, the body has an extremely silky texture and the acidity brings energy and liveliness. The aftertaste is a pure delight."
Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Baga 2017 Magnum (3 x 1.5L)
Filipa Pato Post-Quer..s Bical Amphorae 2020 — Bical (100%) Nearby the ocean, this wine is from the valley of Óis do Bairro. Aged in amphorae — the micro-oxygenation brings a freshness and mineral note to the wine. They explain, "Very mineral nose with a certain smokiness due to the limestone soil. It has a distinguished fruity touch of pears (typical Bical) and slightly nutty character (hazelnut, almonds, pines). After some time in the glass it even reveals thyme and honey.”
Filipa Pato Post-Quer..s Baga Amphorae 2021 — Baga (100%) handselected from multiple vineyards. Partial whole cluster and fermented in amphorae (500-700L). A ‘vin de plaisir’ they explain the clay (barro) vessels were "inspired by the Romans, who left their legacy in the region (clays jars). Part of the soil of Bairrada (Barro=clay) is clay. We wanted to recreate this old tradition. The micro-oxygenation through the clay of the amphorae helps to soften down the tannins of the Baga and explore even more the pureness of Baga.”
Filipa Pato Missao Pre-Phylloxera Baga 2019 (3 x 750ml) — Baga (100%). A really special wine, "The very small “Missao” vineyard is a 0,57 ha plot of old (over 150 years) pre-phylloxera Baga vines. The production is 1 – 2 bunches per vine which in 2019 resulted in: 493 bottles and 36 magnums and 7 Jeroboam. The grapes are meticulously harvested and sorted by hand in the vineyard. Part of the grapes are destemmed and the use of whole clusters depends on the vintage. Only indigenous yeasts are used. The grapes are daily pushed down with a lot of care during 3 weeks. This in order to extract the colour tannins and aromas from the grapes. When the alcoholic fermentation is complete, the free-run wine is run off using a gravity system. The marc is pressed slowly and gently in order to extract an exceptionally pure press wine.The wine is aged for 18 months in a traditional pipa (500 l).” They also note, "The “Missão” is remarkable for its very pure expression of Baga! It is our “Royal Majesty”! This is a really special place that we were lucky to find! There are not so many plots of pre-phylloxera Baga vines left in Bairrada. Baga doesn’t get better than this… it will show its real potential after a good time in bottle. Lately we tasted a wine from this area from the 80’s and it was showing enormous energy, even glorious and had a magnificent structure. It was an extremely noble wine - certainly if you know it was made in very basic conditions.”
Filipa Pato Missao Pre-Phylloxera Baga 2019 Magnum (2 x 1.5L)