2023 Luis Pato, Vinhas Velhas Branco, Bairrada

Luis Pato, a former chemical engineer and the technical vanguard of Bairrada’s viticultural identity, focuses this bottling on the preservation of indigenous genetic material and high-acid structural profiles. The fruit is sourced from 40-year-old vines, utilizing a specific soil split between chalky-clay for the Bical and sandy parcels for the Cerceal and Sercialinho. In the 2023 vintage, Pato maintained the regional Atlantic tension through stainless steel fermentation, successfully balancing the year's warmer conditions with a sharp, linear drive. The resulting architecture is defined by a dense mid-palate and a persistent saline minerality that reflects the maritime climate’s influence on physiological ripeness. This is a technical, terroir-driven expression that favors phenolic weight and structural nerve over primary fruit characteristics.