Filipa Pato & William Wouters

This winery commands the attention of enthusiasts and collectors. It has become increasingly respected. Their motto is “Authentic Wines without Makeup.” They believe that biodynamic practices put you in symbiosis with the vintage and also strongly believe in low yields. The winery says, “To make top-quality Baga, 30 hectoliters per hectare is an absolute maximum. In some vineyards, we achieve only 10 hectoliters per hectare. You have to be able to work well in the vineyard, and if you practice biodynamic agriculture, you have to be in the vineyards every day to feel what is happening.” The winery is certified organic (Ecocert) and biodynamic (Demeter). They have a comprehensive way of looking at things, including even the use of “our special breed of pig, a crossing of the small Vietnamese pig with the medium Portuguese Bisaro pig. They do an amazing job upturning the soil and controlling the weeds, especially around the vines….whole eliminating all of the weeds, they also aerate the soil, fertilize it with their excrements and contribute to its acidification (Bairrada soils tend to be very alkaline), by scratching their bodies on the vine trunks they clean it contributing for the vine sanity.”  The winery explains that there is no formula for their wines and that everything is pure intuition. “Every winemaking decision is based on observation, reflection, a sense of the present and a vision of future development.” Here, one year's decision will not necessarily be the same as the next, because there are still wines that they are striving to understand. “When working in organic and/or biodynamic viticulture there is a set of cultural operations and interventions that we must follow by all means: no use of chemically synthesized pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or phytopharmaceuticals, minimum tilling and precaution about soil compression, conservation of the cover crops, conservation of the natural fauna and flora, use beneficial insects such as ladybugs and mealybug—cryptolaemus montrouzieri—(to control undesired insect population), include local communities and neighbors and even respect lunar phases to execute some interventions and procedures…. Lunar cycles have one of the most remarkable impacts from the first leaves to the harvest. A complete involvement in the movements of the earth and moon allow for intervening at the best possible moment, which can compensate for the caprices of weather.” The goal is also to reduce the carbon footprint across all aspects of the business, including the adoption of solar panels. The winery has a much longer version of this eco statement. Calling them detail-oriented is an understatement.

The winery is in the center/north of Portugal in the region of Bairrada and the medieval village of Óis do Bairro. Bairrada has a strong Atlantic influence as the vineyards are only 15 kilometers from the ocean, and there is only a pinewood forest separating the ocean and the valleys of their vineyards. The soils are mainly limestone and clay, all mid-slopes and eastern orientation. The region is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caramulo mountain range (the natural border with the continental Dão region). Filipa Pato was born into a winemaking family (over five generations in the same village) and is the daughter of Luis Pato, the iconic producer who might well be given credit for establishing the modern Bairrada region while trumpeting the fame of its key grape, Baga. She started her own winery in 2001 and was joined by husband William Wouters in 2006. They own 20 hectares today in three villages. They use only indigenous grape varieties (the famous Baga for red; and in white, Bical, Arinto, Maria Gomes and Cercial). One small 0.6-hectare vineyard called Missão was planted with pre-phylloxera Baga planted back in 1864.