Luís Pato, Vinhas Velhas 2025

Why we love this bottle

Luís Pato is one of the great names of Bairrada, in the heart of Portugal. His family has made wine there since the eighteenth century, and his father João was the first to bottle wine in Bairrada after it became an official appellation. Luís champions the local grapes: Baga for his reds, Bical and Maria Gomes for his whites. He even bred his own variety, Sercialinho, a cross of Sercial and Alvarinho. We love it because he has spent a lifetime showing how far a local grape can go.

Vinhas Velhas means old vines, and that is exactly what this is about. Luís has made this white since 1990 from three grapes: Bical, Cercial and his own Sercialinho. Lemon, yellow apple and something chalky. Taut, fresh and long. In Bairrada they drink it with suckling pig. Taste what old vines and patience do to a wine.