Pato & Wouters Post Quercus (Amphora) Bical Branco 2020

Filipa Pato and William Wouters are a magical wife and husband collaboration. Our philosophy is simple: create authentic wines without makeup. They express the true nature of the vineyards from which they come. We focus on indigenous grapes only. Baga, Bical, Arinto, Cercial and Maria Gomes create soulful wines from vineyard sites with soils, microclimates, and other aspects, ideal for growing our exquisite wine grapes with biodynamanic viticultural practices. In the winery, we gently handle the grapes, with minimal intervention and strict monitoring of the wine, allowing our grapes to express themselves fully. Ultimately we create "terroir" wines by uniting knowledge, art and nature to produce "without makeup", each wine with its own character.   The is situated on a very mild slope with a great southern exposure, the soil is deep, with limestone from Jurassic Inferior.

Hand-picked and fermented in amphorae — clay vessels named for the region itself, since "barro" means clay in Bairrada. The clay allows a gentle micro-oxygenation that lets this Bical fully express its minerality.

From Bairrada, Portugal — an ancient wine region of rolling valleys dominated by the Caramulo mountain range, long celebrated for producing excellent Bical. This wine comes from chalky clay midslopes of Lower Jurassic soil, east-facing with strong Atlantic influence just 15km from the ocean, off vines averaging 40 years old. The Ois do Bairro valley in particular has been renowned for centuries for the quality of its whites — in fact, wines from here were among the first Portuguese whites ever exported to the former colonies, including Brazil and Angola.

Brilliant, intense straw yellow in the glass with a greenish rim and good viscosity. The nose is deeply mineral, with a certain smokiness from the limestone soils, the pear character typical of Bical, and a slightly nutty edge of hazelnut and almond — given time to open, thyme and honey emerge too. The palate is creamy and smooth, with an intriguing minerality, real tanginess and good length. A big taste teaser, through and through.

. Farming Practice: Practicing Biodynamic /  Soil: Clay and Limestone.