Luis Pato Quinta do Ribeirinho Pé Franco 2019

The man has dreams. My was to produce a wine that could reveal us how were the wines before the arrival of phyloxera to Europe. That is why Pé Franco, name which is commonly known, was born. I planted 1,2ha of Baga grape vines, directly, as it used to be in pre-phyloxera Europe, in sandy soil, as a way to avoid the attack of the roots of the bug producer of the disease, due to his aversion to this kind of soils. After big anxiety we made the first harvest in 1995, 7 years after the plantation. In 2010 we commemorated the 15th harvest of this dare.

The wine now comes from an area augmented to 2,5ha. As each vine produces only one bunch, i.e. one glass of wine, it is necessary the annual work of six vines to obtain a bottle. This is due not only to the smaller production of the ungrafted vines but also to the successive green harvests that we make to obtain a very bodied wine that can hide the tannins of the grape and the acidity typical of the climate of the region, fundamental factors to give the wine an aging capacity to celebrate the adulthood, a marriage or another relevant event to the daughter or to the son, with a wine of their birthday.

Quinta do Ribeirinho Pé Franco is a regional red wine from Bairrada with the signature of winemaker Luís Pato. In 1988, with the aim of showing the great potential and characteristic essence of the Baga variety, the winemaker planted non-grafted vines in sandy soil – the most resistant to the development of the Phylloxera disease, in order to obtain a natural concentration of the grapes, leaving only a bunch per vine, in a personal tribute to the Baga variety. Awarded and internationally renowned, Quinta do Ribeirinho Pé is a wine that has an excellent aging capacity that exceeds twenty years: a powerful, complex and well-sculpted wine showing aromas of floral, licorice and mineral touches.