I have visited Luís Pato several times, and tasted through his range over and over again. His wines are consistently good, the ambitious reds are the most famous, but don’t forget the whites. Pato never rests. Lately he has been moving towards organic agriculture, in a -organically speaking- difficult coastal landscape.
Here is a wine that seeks to demonstrate the baga grape’s antioxidant and stabilizing capacity, so as to be able to avoid the addition of sulphur.
Honestly I am not quite sure if the vineyards for this wine are organically grown, but I will ask the producer and update you about that. But the elaboration is undoubtedly done like a natural wine, there is no SO2 added, and the antioxidant capacity of the baga grape itself does the job. The climate can be said to be problematic, yes, but one can also say that it’s suitable for making wine without addition of acid, like is done in many hot regions, and without addition of sugar, done in many colder regions.
Baga Natural 2012 (Luís Pato)
Dark colour with a blueish hue. Very nice fruitiness on the cooler side, hints of blueberry, wild berries, and aromatic herbs. Quite slender in the mouth, and the baga grape gives it some dryness in texture.
Price: Low
Food: Suckling-pig (locally called ‘leitão’), other light meat, I think not too powerful game too, Caesar salad and similar…