The wines of Vadio   
A new producer in Portugal's Bairrada region 

Website: www.vadio.pt

Luís Patrão (above) is a young winemaker who works alongside David Bavestock at Herdade de Esporão in the Alentejo. He also makes his own wines from just over 3 hectares of family vineyards in the Bairrada region, under the name Vadio. These are interesting wines.

There are two vineyard blocks. The first, Rexarte, is on a west-facing hillside with sandy loam soils, and here he's planted Encruzado, Arinto and Verdelho, as well as the more traditional white varieties of the region, Cercial and Bical. He also bought a 0.5 hectare contiguous block which has Baga and Cercial, bringing this plot up to 1.3 hectares.

Most of the reds come from the second block, which is called Barrio. This is on chalky clay soils, and consists of 0.5 hectares of older Baga vines, as well as 1.5 hectares planted in 2007 on the Barrio do Forno, named after the seven limestone kilns that were previously here, used to make whitewash for painting walls.

The wines are made in a small winery in a converted warehouse. The notes below are from three separate tastings, with the date indicated in month/year format. This is a winery to watch.

THE WINES  

Vadio Brut Espumante 2009 Bairrada, Portugal
80% Bical and 20% Sercial. Herbs and apples, with a bit of baked apple richness and zippy acidity. Lively and fruity with great acidity, and quite dry (6 g/litre dosage). 90/100 04/13

Vadio Brut Espumante NV Bairrada, Portugal
Lively, precise and herby with nice apple notes and great acidity and freshness. Lovely precision and real personality. 90/100 03/14

Vadia Branco 2013 Bairrada, Portugal
Lovely texture here: some apples, herbs and lemons with lovely precision and nice taut fruit. Good depth with a stylish finish, and subtle notes of wax and pith. 92/100 03/14

Vadio Tinto 2009 Bairrada, Portugal
100% Baga. Brooding with sweet, fresh berry and black fruits. Nice smooth texture here with some chalky minerality. Very fine with nice structure. 93/100  04/13

Vadio Tinto 2009 Bairrada, Portugal
Supple ripe berry fruits with nice textured and a chalky mineral edge. Nice precision and freshness: quite serious. 92/100 03/14

Vadio Tinto 2010 Bairrada, Portugal
Fresh, supple and berryish with pure smooth yet precise ripe berry fruits with some black cherry. Good acidity and supple, chalky minerality. Lovely weight to this. 94/100 04/13

Vadio Tinto 2011 Bairrada, Portugal
Lovely floral cherry and berry fruits nose with a hint of stewed plum. The palate is supple and really elegant with lovely expressive, pure, minerally cherry and plum fruit. 94/100

Vadio Grande Vadio 2010 Bairrada, Portugal
Supple, sweet and bright with lovely raspberry and black cherry fruit, as well as some minerality. Just lovely mineral focus with good weight. So fresh with really fine structure and great potential. 94/100

Vadio Grande Vadio 2011 Bairrada, Portugal
Textured, fresh and fine with lovely mineral undercurrent to the sweet cherry and plum fruit. Nice concentration here, but elegance and poise too, with lovely structure. Such precision. Tannic and potentially long lived, but not austere. 95/100

Vadio Tinto 2006 Bairrada
Made in an open fermenter with foot treading, and then aged in old barrels from Esporão. Supple, fresh and cherryish with good acidity and some minerality. Really authentic and precise with no rough edges and beautiful fruit expression. Evolving really nicely. 91/100 03/11

Vadio Branco 2009 Barraida
A blend of Cercial (80%) and Arinto d’Anadia. Supple and lemony with attractive pure fruit. Crisp and light textured. Really appealing. 89/100 03/11

See also:

Visiting Bairrada
Tasting notes of Portuguese wines
The new Douro (series)

Wines tasted as indicated
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

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