Filipa Pato Post Quercus 2024

Grape: Baga
Vintage: 2024
Type: Red

Crafted by Filipa Pato and William Wouters in Óis do Bairro, this groundbreaking cuvée takes its name—"Post Quercus" or "After Oak"—from a total shift away from traditional barrel aging in favor of clay amphorae. Sourced from small, biodynamically farmed plots of 80-plus-year-old vines rooted in limestone-heavy calcário soils, the fruit is harvested by hand to preserve electric high-altitude freshness. In the cellar, the grapes undergo a spontaneous, native-yeast primary fermentation inside 400-to-600-liter clay vessels with long skin maceration and minimal extraction. The natural porosity of the local clay permits gentle micro-oxygenation, breathing life into the liquid and softening Baga's famously formidable structural frame without adding any oak tannins or toast aromatics. It matures in amphora for six months before being bottled unfiltered with minimal sulfur.

In the glass, it pours a brilliant, translucent cherry-ruby hue. The nose is remarkably pure, fragrant, and fruit-driven, bursting with aromas of sour red cherries, wild raspberries, tart cranberries, white pepper, and a subtle, earthy hint of dried Mediterranean herbs and sun-baked soil. On the palate, a "crystalline" core of bright Atlantic-influenced acidity slices through the juicy, light-to-medium-bodied fruit profile, delivering an effortless, fluid tension. The clay vessel maturation yields remarkably fine-grained, chalky tannins that integrate seamlessly across the palate. It glides into a mouthwatering, highly refreshing finish, leaving a long, savory trail of crushed limestone, bitter herbs, and crunchy red berries.