Louis/Dressner Selections

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2024 Harvest Reports Coming Soon!

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producer profile 29.04.2024

Las Vedras Producer Profile

Sónia Raposo was working in the HR sector for a large pharmaceutical company and experiencing the inevitable corporate career angst. Concurrently, she was finding an interest in wine - visiting producers, attending consumer tastings and some <glossary term="WSET" title="1127">WSET</glossary> classes - to the point where she began teaching some of the courses. By 2012 she was also interning at wineries in <glossary term="Alentejo" title="1259">Alentejo</glossary> and elsewhere in Portugal. In 2013 she met Pedro Marques in attendance with his family <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary>, Vale da Capucha. From there, her interest in more honest, real wines took off. Ultimately, apart from the small things like a marriage and a family, the goal became to start a winemaking project together. In the beginning, they purchased a small amount of grapes from farmers they knew worked their vineyards well to see the potential of the vines before entering a rental agreement. The project eventually evolved into their own wines under the Las Vedras (“the old ones”) label. Initally they started making the wine at Pedro’s family’s winery, but recently have moved their operation to a new <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> in the village of Pero Negro. At first, the couple felt a bit isolated working in <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary>, as it has a reputation for high production, poor quality <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary>. Case in point: besides themselves and Vale da Capucha, there isn't a single <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> producer in the <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary> <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary>. With the work they are doing, however, other like-minded producers are beginning to take note and interest in the area.  <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary>, roughly an hour north of <glossary term="Lisbon" title="1262">Lisbon</glossary>, lies close at the foot of the Serra de Montejunto, the highest ridge of mountains in the Estremedura region of <glossary term="Lisbon" title="1262">Lisbon</glossary>; these act as a barrier to some of the prevailing winds, which, depending on the annual conditions, can either benefit or harm the vineyard. From this area, Sónia and Pedro work multiple vineyard sites. With these windy conditions, the <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> system is traditionally a type of short-<glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruned</glossary> <glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">goblet</glossary> called Asas de Mosca (“fly wings”) for the shape of the tying. Walking distance from the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>, the couple's largest <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> lies within the <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary> of <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary>, in the village of Pero Negro. At 1.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">ha</glossary>, it is comprised of smaller <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary> within the larger <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary>, indicative of what the region was before commercial production invaded. A white and a red wine named after the village, Pero Negro, are produced from this land. One of the smaller plots, a <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> that was not previously farmed very well, is planted with the whites of <glossary term="Fernão Pires" title="1235">Fernão Pires</glossary> and <glossary term="Palomino" title="1487">Palomino</glossary>, known locally as Seminario and Malvasia Rei, and the reds of <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary> and <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary>. The paperwork on the <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> says it was planted in 1993, but the owner thinks it is actually 50-60 years old. They began the <glossary term="Conversion" title="332">conversion</glossary> to <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> in 2019. From another proximate farmer, Sónia and Pedro purchase grapes that produce a wine called "Corriente". The soils here are <glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary> and <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> of oceanic origin and have a high <glossary term="PH" title="783">PH</glossary>. The couple has begun sowing <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> here to increase organic matter, open up the soil and drive down the <glossary term="PH" title="783">PH</glossary> level.  The next  <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary>, in the village of Portela do Bispo -or Bishop’s Portal- lies in between the two <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary>’s of <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary> and <glossary term="Arruda" title="1488">Arruda</glossary>. It is a two <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> of 80 year-old vines planted mainly with <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> and a bit of <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary>, <glossary term="Syrah" title="1001">Syrah</glossary>, <glossary term="Touriga Nacional" title="1229">Touriga Nacional </glossary>and some unknown white grapes. The <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> faces north towards the Montejunto Serras and can be exposed to some high winds. It is more of the oceanic <glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary>-<glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary> soil planted in verry narrow rows, since it pre-dates <glossary term="Mechanization" title="645">mechanization</glossary>. 2020 was the first <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> from this  <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary>, yielding one 500L <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary>. Like in Pero Negro, Sónia and Pedro have begun planting <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> here as well. The third <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary>, Dois Portos, or Two Ports, is in the <glossary term="DOC" title="1156">DOC</glossary> <glossary term="Torres Vedras" title="1486">Torres Vedras</glossary>. Sónia and Pedro began working this <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> in 2022, making a small amount of wine  that year. It is again a two <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> planted mostly to <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> and surrounded by stone fruit trees. Sónia and Pedro are generally striving not to add any <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary> to the process, but are not dogmatic given the current varying conditions at <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary>, namely rain. Right now, they have not had to add any to any of the wines, even before <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottling</glossary>. Four wines are currently produced: Vino Branco Limo: from a <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> planted and worked by the late Antonio Carvalho of Casal Figueira and some friends in Bombarral a bit north of Pero Negro. 40% French <glossary term="Varietal" title="1071">varietals</glossary> that Antonio planted - <glossary term="Roussanne" title="878">Roussanne</glossary>, <glossary term="Marsanne" title="634">Marsanne</glossary>, <glossary term="Sémillon" title="1003">Semillon </glossary>and <glossary term="Petit Manseng" title="779">Petit Manseng</glossary>. The rest is <glossary term="Fernão Pires" title="1235">Fernão Pires</glossary>, <glossary term="Arinto" title="1233">Arinto</glossary> and <glossary term="Vital" title="1429">Vital</glossary>. Short <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">skin soak</glossary> then <glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary> into <glossary term="Stainless Steel" title="986">stainless vats</glossary>. Pero Negro Branco: The fruit comes from a small lower <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> at the bottom of the hill. <glossary term="Fernão Pires" title="1235">Fernão Pires</glossary> and <glossary term="Palomino" title="1487">Palomino</glossary> (known locally as Malvasia Rei). One day <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary>, <glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary> and <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermented</glossary> in <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">tonneau</glossary> of 500L, then two years <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary> in the <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary>. Vinho Tinto Corriente: a traditional blend of <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary> and <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> from the aforementioned neighbor’s vineyard. The grapes are all <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster</glossary>, with half going into the <glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">vat</glossary> in <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-bunches</glossary> and the rest <glossary term="Foot-Treading" title="458">foot trod</glossary>, followed by a short five to seven day <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary>.  Pero Negro Tinto: <glossary term="Castelão" title="1228">Castelão</glossary> (<glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster</glossary>) and <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> (<glossary term="De-stemming" title="378">destemmed</glossary> as they feel this variety’s stems are not pleasing). <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">Fermented</glossary> and <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aged</glossary> in 500L <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary>. In previous <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary>, the <glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary> lasted two years. Moving forward, this will change, as they think this wine should spend less time in <glossary term="Wood" title="1126">wood</glossary>. They inted the newer <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary> to be fresher, but <glossary term="Tinta Miuda" title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary> will always need more time in <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary>.

producer 22.05.2019

Francis Boulard et Fille