Moreish Tinto Bairrada Magnum 2021

Luís Lopes is one of the most gifted winemakers in Portugal, and in his vibrant youth, he already has a vineyard, cellar and tasting experience like few professionals in the world. From Comte Lafon in Burgundy to almost a decade at the head of the classic wines of Quinta da Pellada, passing through New Zealand and at the head of projects as different and challenging as the Alvear wines in Spanish Extremadura, the humble Luís always excels. His personal Moreish project reveals his most spontaneous side, with wines as unusual from grapes and techniques discovered in his wanderings around the world, as they are delicious, to cry for more!

Wine:
This beautiful red from Bairrada is a co-fermentation of 20% Trincadeira and 80% Castelão Nacional (Camarate/Negro Mouro) from two vineyards in the Souselas area. Trincadeira from a 40 year old vineyard and Camarate a little younger, around 30 years old. The vines are on limestone clay soil, with many outcrops of limestone and white loam. Especially the Trincadeira vineyard, which is more about stone. Cunha do Camarate has deeper and clayey soil.

It was made with 100% destemming of the grapes without crushing the berries. Spontaneous fermentation, with indigenous yeasts, took place in a lagar with gentle “treading” by hand, 2x a day, just to keep the blanket moist. At the end of fermentation (10/12 days), it was pressed and made malolactic in stainless steel. It was transferred to used barrels (in the singular, as it was really just one) of 400 liters, where it aged for 12 months. It was bottled directly without fining or filtering.