Tasting: Lychee, mango, white flowers, salty, light, and crisp
Grape: 100% Moscatel Galego
Moscatel is an Eastern Mediterranean grape that was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans. Its distinctive aroma is really easy to recognize - fresh grapes, raisins, lemons, lychees, pears, and lime flowers. It has good, fresh acidity.
Region: Douro, Portugal
Farming: Practicing organic
Vinification: Grapes hand-harvested from 35-year-old vines atop schist and granite. The grapes undergo 4 months of a gentle, slow maceration in an open vat. The wine ages for a short period of time before bottling. Unfined, unfiltered, with minimal SO2.
About the Winemaker: The young and ambitious winemaker Tiago Sampaio has truly had a life of the vine. What began as a childhood fascination from atop the shoulders of his grandfather, walking the many yards of vines and vegetables of his family’s farm, has become a career, an identity, a life that is now shared with people all over the world who enjoy the fruits of his efforts. A long academic career in agriculture, viticulture, and oenology in Portugal eventually landed him at Oregon State’s esteemed Viticulture and Oenology PhD. Once completed, Tiago returned to northern Portugal to start what has become one of the most exciting natural wine projects in all of Iberia. Working in the rough terrain of Alijó in a region known as the Alto Douro, the (mainly old, i.e. 80+ years, and native) vines are trained atop schist and granite soils at 1600-2300ft elevation.