We tasted the wine for the first time at the famous O Gaveto restaurant in Matosinhos, north of Porto, and were immediately impressed. That same evening we met the winemaker Nuno, tried again and bought up all his leftover stock. Need we say more?
The wine is very elegant with mineral notes of granite, almost salty, citrus, flowers and hints of thyme. In the mouth it leaves a very refreshing, elegant impression. The body is present but not massive, the finish is long. The Druid is reminiscent of Chablis Grand Cru, but only costs half. A wonderful wine at a very attractive price!
Why Druid?
The druids were sages and philosophers of the Celtic civilization. As such, they played an important role in the judiciary and medicine, as well as in poetry and in the preservation of traditions. However, their most important function was the understanding of the connection between earth (planet) and plants, the spiritual balance of nature.
Our friend Nuno Mira d'Ó does nothing else: he is constantly looking for the balance between the terroir, the climate and his exclusively autochthonous vines in order to produce a perfect wine with a sensual balance. So in a way he's also a druid of modern times. So it's no wonder that one of his wines is called "Druida".
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Vintage: 2018
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Production area: Dão
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Terroir: Granite with a fair amount of clay and medium-sized pebbles on the surface
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Varieties: 100% Encruzado
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Aging: Hand picking, fermentation with our own yeast in French barriques from the Allier (20% new, 80% used). Then 10 months aging in barriques and 8 months in tanks on the lees. Bottling in March 2015, since then storage in the cool cellar in the Dão.
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Alcohol content: 13% vol.
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Residual sugar: 1.2g/litre
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pH: 3.23
- Contains sulphites
The story of Nuno is similar to the story of many young talented Portuguese oenologists with a vision and a dream. He belongs to the first generation in Portugal who have learned winemaking, the so-called oenology, and who see their country as a kind of playground. Salazar's dictatorship "frozen" the country for several decades, leading to national bankruptcy and eventual Troika control. But the Portuguese are fighters and freed themselves from this unsatisfactory situation on their own. When it comes to wine, the country has hardly specialized in the many internationally successful, mostly French grape varieties, but concentrates primarily on its own countless autochthonous grape varieties. In fact, Portugal has the largest selection of autochthonous grape varieties in the world. This is exactly what Nuno and his partner are interested in.
Together with João Corrêa he worked for several years as an oenologist for the Companhia das Quintas until one day he met João Soares from the Caves Messias. Together, the two decided to make a red wine from the Baga vine in Bairrada and that is how the project, or rather the Alías wine, was born. They then decided to make a white wine from the Encruzado vine in the Dão, the Druid. Both wines are so-called "Garage Wines", which are produced in very small quantities.
Manufacturer address: C2O Lda. Rua Professor Francisco Gentil, 16 - 4oE, 1600-236 Lisboa, Portugal
