Casal Figueira Antonio 2017
Winemaker Notes
Marta Soares is the passionate winemaker of Casal Figueira located outside of Lisbon. A wine project that was started over 20 years ago by her late-husband Antonio, Marta took the reigns of their winery and is producing intensely natural bio-dynamic wines.
Antonio Branco is made from 100% Vital, a rare grape varietal discovered on the Serra de Montejunto mountain that rises practically out of Portugal’s coast. This white has aromas of white flowers and green apple and on the palate, bright and silky orchard fruits and citrus.
Casal Figueira Tinto is made from 100% Castelão, a unique expression with freshness, verve and purity. This bright ruby-violet wine has red berry fruits on the nose and palate. Mouthwatering acidity and soft skin tannin provide a lovely balance to the fruit.
Marta’s wines are raw, unmitigated picture of the terroir of the hills outside of Lisbon, and a testament to her devotion to her husband’s memory and the work he left behind.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.
There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.