Luis Pato Vinho Spumante NV

Grape: Baga

Region: Bairrada, Portugal

Farming: Sustainable

Luis Pato (which is Portuguese for ‘duck’) is probably the best-known producer in the Bairrada region. For a long time he was seen as a modernizer who helped bring a struggling region back to life, but I think it’s unfair to see him just in this light, because his wines have a traditional side to them, and he’s also a champion of the local red grape, Baga. When the regulations in Bairrada changed, allowing growers in the region to use other varieties, you could say that Pato then became a neo-traditionalist. While his winemaking style was modern by the standards of the region, and quite technical, he never went down the alternative varieties path thet others adopted. Pato’s background is that he trained as a chemical engineer before taking over his parent’s winery in the early 1980s. As soon as he was up and running, he began to experiment. He started destemming his wines, which was unusual at the time, and he began to use small oak barrels, some of them new. He also blended in some Touriga Nacional. Quickly his wines caught the attention of the critics. There was a modernizing tendency here that at the time was welcomed by some and distrusted by others.