The wines of Filipa Pato, Bairrada and Dão, Portugal

Quinta do Ribeirinho, 3780-016 A. de Gandara, Portugal
Tel: +351 231 59 64 32 Fax: +351 231 59 68 42
E-mail: fpato@yahoo.com

Filipa is the daughter of celebrated Bairrada winemaker Luis Pato. After finishing her chemistry degree at Coimbra University in 1999, she decided to expand her horizons and travel the world. First, she did harvest at Château Cantenac Brown in Bordeaux, and followed this experience up by spending a year working at Finca Flichman in Argentina. Next up was Australia where she worked at Leeuwin Estate in the Margaret River. ‘It was interesting to see how the new world was doing on both the Latin and Anglo-Saxon sides’, she says. Arriving back in Portugal in 2001, Filipa decided to make wines in Beiras (the larger region that encompasses Dão and Bairrada). She bought grapes from different vineyards, many of them old vine, and began to work out how the different soils, grape varieties, surrounding forests (a feature of the Dão and Bairrada) and exposition influenced the final wine. It took a while to get the confidence of the growers, but Filipa was paying them more than they were used to for their grapes, and gradually they came round to her views on viticultural interventions such as reducing yields and canopy management. Because of the family connection, she’s got the winery facilities to support her vision, and if the sensational 2003 Filipa Pato Bairrada—which combines ripeness, density and elegance—is anything to go by, we should expect to see some interesting wines from her in the future. New for 2004 is a Dão wine from a rented 2.5 hectare vineyard in Vila Nova de Tazem, planted to Alfrocheiro Preto and Touriga Nacional. Despite 2004 being the rainiest Dão vintage for 104 years, she’s confident that through careful viticulture the results will be impressive.

The wines

Ensaios FP Branco 2001 Beiras 
‘Ensaios’ translates as ‘experiment’. A white wine made from Arinto and Encruzado. Very distinctive nutty nose leads to a concentrated rich palate with distinctive nutty flavours and good acidity. Interesting if a bit unusual. Very good+ 88/100

Ensaios FP Branco 2003 Beiras
Arinto and Bical. Vivid, intense and fruity with good acidity. A rich concentrated style with lots of interest, combining the freshness of the Arinto with the creaminess of the Bical. Very good+ 89/100

Ensaios FP Tinto 2001 Beiras
A blend of Baga and Touriga Nacional. Juicy, vivid intense nose is savoury and spicy. The palate is savoury and quite elegant with lovely fruit density. A lovely intense, savoury wine. Very good/excellent 90/100

Ensaios FP Tinto 2003 Beiras
Baga, Jaen and Tinta Roriz are the grapes here, and the idea is to use the juiciness of the dominant Jaen to offset the structure of the Baga and Tinta Roriz. Intense, vividly fruited nose of red fruits. The palate is juicy and bold with good concentration and nice structure. Bold. Very good/excellent 90/100

Filipa Patos Baga 2003 Beiras
This is a special wine. Firm nose with intense fruit and some chocolatey, earthy notes. Lovely concentration to the spicy, earthy palate with nice minerality underlying the rich fruit. Very ripe. I’ve never had a Baga like this before. Very good/excellent 93/100

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