Wine Review: Luis Pato Vinhas Velhas Bairrada 2020

Following on from his recent trip to Portugal. our Wine Director David Allen MW, tastes a wine from the Baga grape grown in Bairrada by one of the region's leading producers Luis Pato. Luis claims he was the first producer to make and market a wine from old vines, this is the 2020 vintage of his Vinhas Velhas Bairrada.
Luis Pato is a high-profile, well-regarded and innovative wine producer in the northern Portuguese region of Bairrada. The proprietor, Luis Pato, is a champion of the local red grape Baga and produced his first wine from the variety in 1980. Today, Pato has a diverse wine portfolio that includes still, sweet, and sparkling wines.
The estate is made up of 60 hectares (148 acres) of vineyard land spread throughout nine vineyards around Bairrada. The more southern of these have chalky-clay soils, while the more northerly vineyards are composed of sand.
Along with Baga, the vineyards are planted with a combination of Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Bical, Maria Gomes and Cerceal da Bairrada.
Pato himself is widely credited with helping to revive both Baga and the Bairrada region. He planted ungrafted Baga vines, destemmed the variety for vinification (which was unusual at the time) and began aging Baga in new French oak barrels - also a novelty.
Pato also explored blending the Baga variety with Touriga Nacional. In 1999, Luis Pato began to label his wines with the regional denomination, Beiras.
Luis Pato's top wines include the single-vineyard reds Vinha Pan, Vinha Barrosa, and Quinta do Ribeirinho Pé Franco. The latter is a concentrated red wine made from low-yielding, ungrafted Baga.
He also makes premium white wines, led by Vinha Formal - a wine made from 100 percent Bical grown on chalky-clay soils.
To learn more about his wine, its pricing and availability follow this link to the Wine-Searcher website: www.wine-searc...
#winesearcher #masterofwine #winelovers #bairrada #portuguesewine #tastingredwine #luispato #baga #beiras

[@apollineire]

Great review!

[@winesearcher]

Thank you!

[@ricknelsteel]

Will the person who knows anything about Portuguese wines please stand up….. I thought so. It’s a throw of the dice. On a positive note, you do usually get what you pay for and there are some terrific wines.

[@winesearcher]

Indeed, though for that reason a large number of excellent wines here fly quite a long way under the radar! I visited a Douro producer last week, Alves de Sousa, I have worked with them before and know their wines are superb, but there really are some exceptions there and many are very well priced. Alves de Sousa tasting to follow in the near future!

[@apollineire]

I’m standing up
I know one or two things about Portugal and it’s wines

[@ricknelsteel]

Ha, please share some of it.