Grape: Fernão Pires White Blend
Region: Lisboa, Portugal
Farming: Organic
Hugo Mendes is making some of the most joyful, delicious, and best value wines in Portugal. Originally trained in Biotechnology Engineering, Hugo Mendes abandoned his original career and plunged headlong into winemaking in the early 2000s. Quickly becoming one of the most skilled cellar rats in Portugal, Hugo's scientific mind and technical skills earned him the nickname the "Wizard Apprentice." He rapidly ascended the ranks, becoming head winemaker at Lisboa's Quinta da Murta before striking it out on his own. Hugo is well known in Portugal for being unabashedly opinionated, but in our experience it’s his warm, gregarious nature that is his signature. Vineyards are in northern Lisboa, in the region of Alenquer, on the western side of the Serra de Montejunto, exposing the grapes to the effects of the Atlantic. All the soils are chalky limestone and clay. The climate is a bit less extreme in its maritime qualities than further south (e.g. Colares), allowing for slightly warmer and dryer days but still a great degree of freshness
Food Pairing: Any seafood from the grill would work so well with this wine, tinned fish and also paella.