Beiorte Palhais Tinto 2023

Palhais is a very special vineyard: vines planted in 1940 or earlier, at 300 metres on a north-facing slope of granite shot through with sand, silt and quartz, in the village of Fiais da Beira. The old farmhouses there sit on a huge granite outcrop once used to dry and store cereal — locals call the place Palheiras dos Fiais, and the wine takes its name from it: Palh(eiras) + (Fi)ais.

The vineyard is mostly Baga, with some Cidreiro and Trincadeira and a few vines of Touriga Nacional. Baga is very susceptible to botrytis and some of the 2023 crop was lost; what came in was picked mid-September, destemmed and fermented in an open lagar with wild yeasts and no temperature control, nine days on skins before a slow pressing in the estate's vertical press. Aged 13 months in stainless steel only, naturally stabilised, and bottled in December 2024 — the freshest, most transparent wine in the range.

Region: Dão (Alva sub-region), Portugal
Grape Varieties: Majority Baga, with Cidreiro, Trincadeira and a little Touriga Nacional
Vineyard: Planted 1940 or before, 300 m, north-facing, granite with sand, silt and quartz
Farming: Organic, with biodynamic principles (uncertified)
Alcohol: 11%
Total acidity: 5.46 g/L  |  pH: 3.72  |  Total SO₂: 41 mg/L (CVR Dão analysis)

Beiorte began in 2020 when João Costa ("Costinha" to his friends) and his wife Bea returned to Santa Ovaia, in the rugged Alva sub-region of the Dão beneath the Serra do Açor, and revived his great-grandfather's small cellar — once used to make wine for the region's taverns in 500-litre barrels. Their aim is artisanal wine of purity and authenticity, made from old vineyards whose ageing owners were letting them go, preserving the Dão's ancient genetic heritage untouched by fashion. "Beiorte" means wine in Arguina, the old stonemasons' dialect of the village; every cork reads Beiorte Gido — good wine.