producer profile

<p>In the isolated village of Leiria, Ant&oacute;nio Marques da Cruz runs his small family&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="427">estate</glossary><span>,</span></span></span>&nbsp;Serradinha. Wine has been produced by the Cruz family for many generations, but Antonio is the first to dedicate himself full-time to the craft. After lending a helping hand to his father in 2003, he fell in love with the land and never left, eventually producing his first autonomous <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> in 2008.</p> <p>Serradinha means &quot;little mountain&quot;, and all of the vines are just outside the winery. The youngest vines were planted by Antonio&#39;s father in 1995, and the oldest by his grandfather between 1952 and 1967.&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1233">Arinto</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="1234">Encruzado</glossary> and <glossary title="1235">Fern&atilde;o Pires</glossary> are planted for white (15% of the production),&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1228">Castel&atilde;o</glossary><span>,</span></span></span>&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1229">Touriga Nacional</glossary><span>,</span></span></span>&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1230">Tinta Miuda</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="1231">Alfrocheiro</glossary>&nbsp;and <glossary title="1232">Baga</glossary> for red. The soils are all <glossary title="596">limestone</glossary> based, with some <glossary title="760">parcels</glossary> heavier in <glossary title="909">sand</glossary> and others in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="301">clay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Most vines are planted in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span> <glossary title="518">guyot</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> though the oldest are still in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="497">goblet</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Antonio very rarely works the soils, and when he does it&#39;s only superficially. The <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> has been worked <glossary title="746">organically</glossary> since 1978 and was <glossary title="260">certified</glossary> in 1994. In fact, it&#39;s actually the first <glossary title="1103">viticultural</glossary> <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> in Portugal to receive<strong>&nbsp;<glossary title="260">organic certification</glossary></strong>!</p> <p>Though the area used to be &quot;an ocean of vineyards&quot;, the waters have seemingly run dry; two of the three big <glossary title="252">coops</glossary> of the area recently closed and according to Antonio, the third isn&#39;t too far off. The closest neighboring <glossary title="78">agricultural</glossary> <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> is 4km away, and general interest for this sector is low&nbsp;as the area is actually very cool and wet, resulting in lower alcohol wines&nbsp;not in vogue in Portugal. The area is technically located within wide ranging and fairly recent Lisbon&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="113">appellation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but Antonio intentionally <glossary title="383">declassifies</glossary> his wines to Vinho Branco and Vinho Tinto as he feels the <glossary title="300">classification</glossary> is too broad.&nbsp;</p> <p>In the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> everything is <glossary title="378">destemmed</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="458">foot-trodden</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The white wines see a two to five day&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="610">maceration</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then are <glossary title="843">racked</glossary> directly to <glossary title="142">barrel</glossary> for&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="441">fermentation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> where they stay on the <glossary title="590">lees</glossary> a minimum of 11 months with no&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="147">b&acirc;tonnage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Along with a couple of 200 year old Alentejo&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="103">anforas</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the reds are also <glossary title="441">fermented</glossary> and <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> in <glossary title="142">barrel</glossary>; relatively short <glossary title="610">macerations</glossary> are the norm, but <glossary title="418">&eacute;levage</glossary> varies wine to wine and some can <glossary title="74">age</glossary> for years. There is no <glossary title="1018">temperature control</glossary> in the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Antonio is judicious and calculated with&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="993">sulfur</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> he will occasionally add a tiny bit at <glossary title="827">press</glossary> but usually only at&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="185">bottling</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p>It is of note to mention a unique decorative element: each bottle comes with a wooden ladybug glued to the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="336">cork</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The story goes that Antonio&#39;s father was about to open a bottle when a real one landed right on top of it. This was right around the time of the transmission of the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="427">estate</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and Antonio found it so beautiful and inspiring that he decided to symbolize the moment with each bottle.</p>