Filipa Pato and William Wouters: groundbreaking wines from Bairrada, Portugal

portugal

Filipa Pato and William Wouters: groundbreaking wines from Bairrada, Portugal

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Filipa Pato is the daughter of Luis Pato, and she’s been making wine for a while now under her own name. But she really found her direction when she began focusing solely on Bairrada, and started working with her husband William Wouters, a Flemish dude (from Antwerp) with a background in the restaurant business. With their children, they live in a beautifully renovated house in Ois de Barrio, next door to her father, built over a new winery. With views over the vineyards, it’s a lovely spot. But such are the rules that they are not allowed to vinify here because they live on the floor above the winery. So the plans are to build a new house next door and then have one as winery, one as home.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
A beautiful old block of Baga in one of Filipa’s vineyards

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

They now have quite a few amphorae (they are Tuscan; initial attempts to work with Portuguese amphorae weren’t successful because of leakage), and these have become integral to their evolving wine style. Beginning with the 2010 vintage Filipa also started picking earlier, and has converted her vineyards to biodynamics.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Twice a week they host customers for a visit to the vineyards and cellar, followed by lunch and a tasting. This costs €50, and Filipa says it is much more effective for hosting people than simply giving tastings. Besides, they get to know their customers, it’s a fun experience, and it makes use of William’s chef skills!

Limestone soils, Bairrada
Limestone soils, Bairrada

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

THE WINES

FP by Filipa Pato Bical & Arinto 2016 Bairrada
All limestone soil. Vivid, intense and lemony with lovely bright citrus fruit. Nice acidity here with some grapefruit freshness. Detailed and energetic. So crisp and precise. 91/100

Filipa Pato William Wouters Nossa Calcario Branco 2016 Bairrada
12% alcohol. 10% on skins in amphora, 100% Bical, wild yeast. Beautiful stuff with a lovely mouthfeel. Very fine citrus fruit with hints of apples and pears. Very fresh and vivid with an incredible delicacy and also mineral energy. Lovely feel on the palate. 95/100

Filipa Pato William Wouters Nossa Calcario Branco 2011 Bairrada
100% Bical, but this predates the skin contact and wild ferment. Fresh and lively with a bit of pithiness and a slight salty, mineral edge to the lovely citrus fruit. This has real finesse and interest with keen acidity and a nice subtle spicy bite. I love the acid structure. 94/100

Filipa Pato William Wouters Nossa Branco 2008 Beiras
Debut vintage of Nossa. This is evolving really well with lovely sweet citrus and pear fruit, a hint of white peach, some fine spiciness and ripe apple. There’s also a bit of sweetness here (the fermentation didn’t finish completely). It’s a lovely wine with nice focus and depth. 93/100

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Filipa Pata William Wouters Post Quercus Baga 2015
Amphora wine. Very fine and floral with red cherry, raspberry and fine hints of spice and earth. Textured and really elegant on the palate with grippy but fine-grained tannins. So supple and expressive, this has elegance and complexity. It’s quite lovely. 95/100

Filipa Pato William Wouters Post Quercus Baga Tinto 2014 Bairrada
Open and aromatic on the nose with sweet, subtly lifted raspberry and cherry fruit. The palate is elegant with lovely raspberry and cherry fruit and some grippy but well integrated tannins. Really lovely and beguiling. 95/100

Filipa Pato William Wouters Território Vivo Baga 2012 Bairrada
Lifted, dense, spicy nose with some bright blackberry and cherry fruit. Fresh with some savoury structure and firm tannins, coupled with good acidity. Chunky, spicy, vivid and dense with a tannic, slightly drying finish. A bold wine. 92/100

Filipa Pato William Wouters Nossa Calcario Tinto 2015 Bairrada
Fine and expressive with a slight lift to the sweet raspberry fruit. There’s freshness on the palate but also a hint of balsamic warmth in the background, coupled with some stony, chalky hints. Pretty and detailed with nice grip on the finish. Elegant but structured style. 93/100

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Filipa Pato William Wouters Post Quercus Bical 2015 Bairrada
Bical from amphora. Lively, intense and quite tangy with lovely pear and apple fruit, together with lemony acidity. There’s a tangy spiciness under the fruit. Appley and appealing with some brightness and a lemon peel twist. Lots of detail here. 94/100

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Filipa Pato William Wouters Esprito de Baga 2013 Bairrada
The first vintage of this sweet fortified wine to get the appellation of Bairrada. Fresh, fine and aromatic on the nose. Sweet on the palate with a lovely vermouth character. A bit spirity with some warm earthiness and fine herbs. Compelling and complex with smoky, herby, spicy edge. Unusual and brilliant. 94/100

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

Leave a Comment on Filipa Pato and William Wouters: groundbreaking wines from Bairrada, PortugalTagged , ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

Leave a Reply

Back To Top