An auspicious debut for Quinta S. José de Barrilário

When, in 2017, one of the partners of Terras & Terroir asked him to accompany him on a visit to a farm near Pacheca, where the group was preparing to invest, Hugo Fonseca thought: but that is abandoned, it is not a good investment. He thought about it and tried to dissuade the bosses from carrying out the business.

Without success. And it also fell on his shoulders — not only, but also — the work of recovering the vineyard on the 28-hectare property in Vacalar, Armamar, nestled next to the Temilobos river and much more sheltered from the hustle and bustle of the Douro than Pacheca and other farms planted on the banks of that river. This time, successfully.

“Today we can say that we have a vineyard here”, he shared a few days ago, at the launch of the first two wines from Quinta S. José de Barrilário, the production director of Terras & Terroir. Specifically, 15 hectares of vineyard, which enchants around the recently opened five star hotel.

Borders were recovered, changes were made to pruning and new vines were planted in the lower levels — reds, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão and Sousão. In the two reserves now launched, the aromatic purity, the complimentary work of cask and freshness. The white, made with grapes from another place, Parambos, Carrazeda de Ansiães, is dense and fat, concentrated and frescobeautiful. And this red, from 2020, has, from the outset, a nose fabulous, which mirrors its birthplace well, with red and wild fruit and a floral side to the mix.

The mouth confirms what the smell suggested. Fruit, lots of freshness — it rains less this year terroir of transition between Baixo and Cima Corgo — and a very present, but velvety tannin, some spice. A gastronomic and versatile wine at the table. Good chemistry with the rack of lamb chef Luís Filipe Guedes also held up well when we tried it with codfish à lagareiro. It is a very young which will be interesting to follow over the next few years.

Barrilário has vineyards between 70 and 300 meters in altitude, mostly facing east and which do not suffer from the excessive heat of other Douros. They benefit from the first hours of morning sunlight and, as winemakers Maria Serpa Pimentel and João Silva e Sousa assert, give rise to balanced musts, without excessive concentration, and good acidity — “this thing here is fresh, fresh, fresh; fruit, fruit, fruit”. Judging by this debut, that’s how it is.

Two final notes for the sustainability of this and other Terras & Terroir projects. We were pleased to realize that they had reduced the weight of the bottle they use most by 100 grams — a few months ago we were surprised by a very heavy bottle, the glass of which was enough to make two bottles; this model has been disappearing from the portfolio and is now only available in certain markets (casmurros) — and with the resulting savings, they installed ten hives on the farm with olive trees in mind. According to Hugo Fonseca, bees help to increase the percentage of flowers that set (bear fruit). And such is the enthusiasm that it is planned to install another 20 hives. The olive grove will also grow. There are now 450 olive trees, but on the terraces facing Temilobos, more olive, apple, orange and almond trees will soon appear.

On a social level, this was Pacheca’s biggest harvest ever, purely and simply because the producer was unable to say no to whoever knocked on his door, desperate to sell the grapes that would otherwise remain on the vineyard. And he bought “at above average prices”. The increase in production will be 15% to 23%. Without the winegrower there is no wine and without wine there is no business, not even wine tourism.