Antonio Madeira Palhete Ainda 2022

Grape: Field Blend (Red and White Native Varieties)
Vintage: 2022
Type: Red (Palhete, Light)

Originating from the rugged, granite-rich foothills of the Serra da Estrela in Portugal's Dão region, this cuvée is Antonio Madeira's homage to the historic, ancestral style of the area. A traditional "Palhete" is crafted by co-fermenting red and white grapes co-planted together in centuries-old vineyards. Madeira sources this fruit from lovingly regenerated, biodynamically farmed old vines—some well over a hundred years old. In the cellar, he adheres to a strictly minimal-intervention philosophy, letting the field blend undergo spontaneous native-yeast fermentation. To showcase the wine's raw purity, electric high-altitude energy, and aromatic lift, it is aged exclusively in stainless steel tanks before being bottled unfiltered with low sulfur.

In the glass, it pours a vivid, luminous cranberry-ruby hue with shimmering violet edges. The aromatics jump out immediately, bursting with tart red cherries, wild strawberries, crushed dried flowers, white pepper, and a cool, herbal hint of mountain garrigue. On the palate, a "crystalline" streak of laser-focused, granite-driven acidity slices straight through the light-bodied, weightless fruit. The inclusion of white grapes tempers the extraction, yielding fine-grained, featherlight tannins that frame the mid-palate without adding astringency. It glides effortlessly into an ethereal, highly refreshing finish, leaving a lingering, salty trail of crushed stone minerals and sour red berries.