producer profile

<p>Paraiso Natural is a micro-project between New York based Brits Liz Mckiver, Richard Barnett and their Portuguese friends Miguel and Leli Viseu. High in the mountains of the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Ponte de Lima" title="1452">Ponte di Lima</glossary></span></span>&nbsp;and nestled in the tiny village of Paraiso (aka &quot;paradise&quot;), a&nbsp;single vineyard of <glossary term="Loureiro" title="1423">Loureiro</glossary> grows at 300 meters&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;Very few vines are planted at such high&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Elevation" title="419">elevation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> even less surrounded by a&nbsp;completely natural environment. Only 20km off the coast, the vines are constantly touched by the ocean&#39;s breeze and are grown&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Organic" title="746">organically</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;</p> <p>The property totals roughly 4.5&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with just one <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> currently planted.&nbsp;The vines were planted in 2013 and acquired by Mckiver and Barnett in 2017. The goal from the beginning has been&nbsp;&quot;to love and preserve the land, the soil, the vines. To allow the grapes to express themselves naturally. To grow and bottle a beautiful wine, with no intervention in the vineyard, no <glossary term="Additive" title="1192">additives</glossary> in the bottle.&quot;</p> <p>Miguel Viseu, in additon to working as head winemaker at the beloved Aphros <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> and his own project <a href="https://louisdressner.com/producers/galactic%20wines">Galactic Wines</a> with his wife Leli, is in charge of the viticulture and winemaking.&nbsp;A single wine is made without any <glossary term="Enology" title="422">oenological</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Intervention" title="545">intervention</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> including&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Fining" title="449">fining</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Filtration" title="447">filtration</glossary> or <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">SO2</glossary> additions. There is no rushing it to market and it is <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottled</glossary> when deemed ready.&nbsp;</p> <p>Some of the land is suited for planting vines, but if this does happen it will be slowly and organically when the time is right. Due to the miniscule size of the project, we get less than 200 bottles a year.&nbsp;</p>