Lourinhã, Portugal · Family-run since 1987
Patience,
bottled.
Thirty-nine harvests on chalk and clay, four kilometres from the Atlantic. Wild-fermented, unfined, made slowly — the way the vines asked.
Scroll to the cellar
The estate
Eleven hectares, one slow idea.
Our grandfather planted the first Castelão on the chalk ridge in 1987, when everyone else was pulling vines out. We never irrigate, never add yeast, and never rush the cellar. What leaves here tastes of a place — wind, limestone, and the long dry summers of the Oeste.
39
harvests
11 ha
on chalk & clay
0
litres irrigated
From vine to glass.
Three things we refuse to hurry, and the reason every bottle takes four years.
In the vineyard
Dry-farmed bush vines, ploughed by mule, picked by hand in the cool of the morning.
In the cellar
Whole bunches, native yeast, and up to two winters in old oak and clay amphora.
In the glass
Bottled unfined and unfiltered, then rested a year before it ever leaves the estate.
From the journal.
Harvest
Why we stopped irrigating in 1994
A dry summer, a broken pump and the decision that made the vines dig for their water.
Cellar
The amphora that came from Georgia
Four hundred litres of clay, three weeks on a truck and a winter learning how to use it.
Release
Old Vines Red 2022 is open
Eighteen months in old oak, a few weeks in bottle, and finally ready to pour.
The Cellar Club
Six bottles, twice a year.
First pour of every release, library vintages, and a seat at the harvest lunch. No fees — just wine.
Join the club