Country of Origin: Portugal
Location: Barraida
People: Filipa Pato, Owner & Winemaker
Young, bright, and eccentric, Filipa Pato has winemaking in her blood: she’s the daughter of Luis Pato, one of the leading producers in Bairrada region. Her mother’s family also made wine in the nearby village of Bairro for generations. She began life by studying chemical engineering, then went on to study winemaking in Bordeaux, Argentina, and Australia.
Rather than joining her father to take over when he retires, she set about starting her own winery, making wines from rented vineyards in Bairrada and Dao. Her wines tend to be more fruit-forward and concentrated than her father’s. Her grapes, which are exclusively indigenous, benefit from an Atlantic influence in northern Portugal. Experimentation is the name of her game: she is one of the first winemakers in Portugal to experiment with cryoextraction, and she also ferments, on occasion, in chestnut wood, an old Portuguese tradition.
Her philosophy: “We make wines for drinking and not tasting." Media Links
Jancis Robinson: Filipa Pato, Ensaios
Wine-Searcher: Q&A with Filipa Pato, Winemaker, Portugal
Imbibe.com: Portugese Whites with Food
Wineanorak.com: The Wines of Filipa Pato Social Media Twitter:@fpato Filipa Pato Facebook
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